Scars of a Broken Childhood
by calleighsthebest
Summary: Calleigh recognises a victim at a crimescene, and must return home to Louisiana and face her past! But her past then follows her back to Miami! EricCalleigh,[contains subject of abuse] NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I obviously own nothing you recognise!

In this we have never met Calleigh's father as he still lives in Louisiana with the rest of her family, and Marisol didn't die yet. So please enjoy!

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Eric Delko was the happiest man alive, he and Calleigh had only been seeing each other two weeks, but he knew she was the one. He loved her, now he realised that he had since the day he met her, she was beautiful, but not like the other girls he dated. She didn't seem to realise her beauty, or the effect she had on men, on him, the other girls flaunted it, were in your face about it, and they didn't even come close to Calleigh. She was intelligent, smart, sensitive, thoughtful, fantastic, amazing….the list was endless. He was so lucky, she could have her pick of men, yet she had chosen him. He was struggling to keep the grin off his face, he was sure that people in the lab were beginning to notice, but Calleigh wanted to keep their relationship quiet, after all they were only just starting out and anything could go wrong, but he knew he wouldn't let.

Eric and Calleigh were on their way to a crime scene, Eric was driving, yelling at the cars that kept getting in his way and Calleigh just laughed at him.

"You know they can't hear you, right?" Calleigh said.

"Well they should just get out of the way then, anyway, I was thinking you want to go out for a meal tonight?" Eric asked, changing the subject.

"Sure, we should be celebrating, as of Friday we both have a week off; I still can't believe Horatio agreed to it."

"I know, but then again, it's not like we haven't worked enough overtime recently. So where do you want to go?" He asked.

"You choose, I chose last time, surprise me," Calleigh said smiling. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy, she finally had a decent boyfriend, she'd fancied Eric for ages, but believed she wasn't good enough for him. He was fantastic, everything she'd ever wanted, gorgeous, smart, clever, funny and he knew how to treat a lady, he was romantic. He also seemed to understand that she didn't want to rush into anything and respected her for not jumping straight into bed with him, she wanted to take things slowly, she thought of her previous relationships and how disastrous they'd been, she didn't want that to happen with her and Eric, they'd not been going out long, but she knew this was special.

They arrived at the scene, Horatio was already there and Alex was examining the body, Calleigh and Eric walked over to Horatio.

"What have we got?" Eric asked.

"Male late twenties, no ID as of yet, can you two start processing the scene?" Horatio asked.

"Sure," Calleigh replied walking over towards Alex to see what she had, when Calleigh saw the body she stopped, "No, no, no this can't be happening, no, no way!" Eric ran over to her.

"Calleigh, what is it? Do you know this person?" Eric asked her.

"That's my brother, Joe Robinson, I didn't even know he was in Miami, he's supposed to be back home in Louisiana." Calleigh was near tears and Eric put his arms around her, she shrugged away, she couldn't let anyone see her like this, no one ever saw Calleigh Duquesne upset. Eric tried to lead Calleigh away from the body, but she just stood there, her eyes transfixed on Joe, how could she let this happen, to her own brother, she should have protected him. Horatio walked over and Eric explained.

"Ok Calleigh I want you to take the rest of the day off, go home, Eric, you go with her." Calleigh would normally have argued about being sent home, but right now she was too shocked to say anything. She felt Eric take her hand.

"Calleigh, are you ok?"

She just nodded sadly in response.

"Ok, come on, lets get you home," Eric added slowly moving her towards the hummer. She got in and did up her seatbelt and then just sat there not saying anything for the entire journey back to her apartment. When they arrived, Calleigh got out and made her way to her apartment, opening the door and letting herself and Eric in before shutting it again.

"Do you want anything to eat, maybe something to drink?" Calleigh asked.

"No thanks," Eric replied, smiling at the fact that even at a time like this her southern hospitality shone through. He walked over to her and placed his arms around her waist hugging her to him, he couldn't imagine what she was going through, he thought about how he would feel if Marisol had been killed and he found her like that, it'd kill him. Calleigh whispered something but he couldn't quite hear it.

"What was that?" he asked quietly.

"This is my fault," Calleigh said so softly he only just heard it.

"How'd you figure?" he asked, amazed at the fact that she could even think that this was her fault.

"I should have protected him, I should've stopped this happening."

"Calleigh, you didn't even know he was in Miami, how were you supposed to stop this, this is not your fault, you had no idea this could happen."

"He stunk of alcohol," she stated as if this explained.

"I don't understand Calleigh, so what if he'd had a bit to drink, you still didn't know this could happen."

Calleigh didn't want to explain this, not now anyway, she had too much to do, she had to go home, tell her family, arrange the funeral, she couldn't deal with Eric now. She shook him off and moved towards the bedroom. Eric followed her, wondering what she was doing, she grabbed a bag and began pulling clothes off their hangers and putting them into the bag, she then went to the bathroom and grabbed her toiletries and put them into the bag. Eric went to her and grabbed her hands, which were shaking, and turned her to face him.

"Calleigh, what are you doing?"

"I have to go home, to Louisiana, I have to tell my family and arrange the funeral."

"Calleigh, you don't have to do that right now, it can wait until tomorrow." She pulled away from him, trying to resume the packing.

"No, I have to do this now," tears began streaming down her face, she was frantically trying to wipe them away, she couldn't let anyone see her cry not even Eric Delko, it was a sign of weakness, she couldn't be weak, she wouldn't let herself show weakness. Eric grabbed at her wrists and pulled her to him into a hug. That was it, she broke down in his arms, sobbing so hard she was shaking, Eric held her, stroking her back, glad that she was finally showing some emotion.

"I'm sorry," she said when she finally stopped crying.

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for," he answered.

"I really do need to pack, I have to go home," she said, resuming her packing.

"Ok, but I'm coming with you," Eric said.

"No, Eric you really don't need to do that," she didn't really like the idea of taking him home, not right now, introducing him to her family would be hard enough, but with this she didn't even want to imagine it.

"Calleigh, don't argue with me, I'm coming, you're not doing this on your own."

"But…"

"Calleigh, I'm coming."

"Thanks Eric," she replied, part of her was glad he was coming; at least she'd have someone on her side.

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Ok so there's the first chapter, next we'll go to Louisiana, please read and review, I would really appreciate to here what toy think, good or bad! 


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2, it was a little rushed but read it anyway and let me know what you think, thanks!

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They had arrived at the airport less than two hours later, they had then got tickets for the first flight to New Orleans International Airport, Eric had called Horatio to check that it was ok that the two of them started their vacation two days early, which of course it was and they were now sitting on the plane. Eric was worried about Calleigh, she had hardly said two words to him and she was becoming increasingly agitated.

"You ok?" he asked, he knew it was stupid, she'd just identified her brothers dead body of course she wasn't ok, but the silence was killing him.

"Yes," Calleigh replied quietly, "I'm fine."

They continued to sit in silence, Eric broke the silence again.

"So, what's your family like?" He asked, again trying to make conversation.

Calleigh thought about it, what was she supposed to say? She knew Eric had come from a loving family, she had already met his parents, granted at the time they weren't dating, but even so she was made to feel like part of the family. Her family wasn't like that, they weren't even close. Her dad was a violent racist bully that had made her childhood a miserable and painful experience, ever since she could remember she'd been covering up the bruises he'd left behind. She still had the scars, and was still covering them up, maybe that was why she was taking things slowly with Eric, if he didn't see her body yet, he wouldn't notice the scars and ask all of the questions she knew he would when he found them. She'd tried to protect her brothers from her father, they were younger and didn't deserve the beatings, she usually did. Her mom spent her entire life drinking, fuelling her overactive imagination, wishing she was rich and important and that her family name still meant something.

"Eric, do you mind if we don't tell them that we're dating?" Calleigh asked, knowing that her dad wouldn't welcome the fact that the guy she was dating wasn't white, she didn't want to hurt Eric's feelings but she couldn't deal with this yet.

"Um, sure," Eric replied, wondering why, was she ashamed of him? Was she going to dump him? He began to get more and more nervous about meeting them now. Calleigh sensed this and decided to begin to tell him about her family, he was meeting them soon enough, he'd find out for himself.

"Well, there are my parents, Kenwall and Liza Robinson, they…um… they drink a lot, always have and always will, I'm sure they think they'll die if they don't have drink in their hand!" Calleigh tried to joke, Eric knew that this was difficult for her, she'd never spoken about her family before, well not to him anyway. My dad was the County sheriff, he was strict, but everybody loved him, they never saw him after a few drinks……" she faded off.

"Calleigh?"

"Sometimes he'd have a little too much to drink and get violent…, but anyway," she continued, brushing it off, "my mom well, she also drowned her disappointments in a bottle. I have three brothers," she stopped, "well I did, but now I suppose it's only two," she added sadly. "Mike is 2 years younger than me, Dave 4 years younger and Joe was 6 years younger."

"What do they do?" Eric asked, trying to keep her talking.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure, haven't spoken to them in years, I didn't exactly leave on good terms, only send Christmas and birthday cards now, I spoke to Mike a couple of years ago, but that's about it."

Eric thought about it, he couldn't imagine not speaking to his family, he saw them all the time, he loved his mom's cooking and didn't know what he'd do without his sisters. Every time he had a problem or needed something, he knew they'd help him out, Calleigh didn't have that, it seemed that she spent every waking minute at the lab, so who did she vent to when things were getting too much? Eric was trying to think of something else to say, he didn't want Calleigh to become a mute again, he needed to keep her talking, but luckily the pilot announced that they were about to land so they started gathering their things together.

When they left the airport, they grabbed a taxi and Calleigh told the driver the address of a motel in Darnell, the cab journey was quiet and when they arrived, they got checked into a room. They walked into the room and Eric turned the lights on and walked over to the bed, a double room was all the motel had, he and Calleigh hadn't been going out long and they'd yet to sleep together.

"I'll sleep on the floor if you want, you can have the bed," Eric said wanting her to feel comfortable, she looked exhausted, she needed to sleep.

"Don't be silly, it's more than big enough for the two of us," Calleigh said, walking into the bathroom to get ready for bed, she decided that she'd wait to face the family until tomorrow, she was going to need some energy for that. When she emerged in her pyjamas, she climbed into bed and Eric stripped to his boxers before climbing in the other side. Calleigh rolled over and rested her head on his chest, trailing her fingers up and down his torso.

"I'm glad you came," she said, truly pleased that she wasn't going to have to face this on her own.

"I would never have left you to do this on your own, I love you."

Calleigh was stunned into silence, she had been in love with him for so long, but they'd only been dating a couple of weeks, she had know idea he felt the same way.

"Calleigh, it's ok, you don't have to say anything, I just want you to know it."

"I love you to, more than you'll ever know."

And with that, Calleigh let herself fall into a deep sleep comfortable in the knowledge that Eric Delko loved her.

The next morning she woke up, noticing that he was missing, then she realised, the shower was running, she got up and began getting ready, when Eric emerged from the bathroom, she went in and when they were both up and dressed, they left the room and headed downstairs. Eric noticed Calleigh was very nervous and took hold of her hand, trying to comfort her, she squeezed it in reply, after grabbing a bite to eat they set off walking towards Calleigh's family's house. Eric noticed that the entire area looked run down, probably looked the same as the last time Calleigh was here he thought. Suddenly she stopped, and Eric turned to look at her.

"We're here," she stated, pointing to the house in front of her. Eric looked at the house, it looked like it was about to fall down and in desperate need of some tender love and care. Calleigh took a deep breath and walked towards the front door, she stopped again and looked at Eric as if to ask what she should do now, Eric nodded at her and again squeezed her hand. She lifted her hand to the door and knocked…

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TBC…

Ok so there's the second chapter, I promise it should get slightly more exciting from here on in, but anyway please let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews I really appreciate them, here's chapter 3!

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They were still stood outside waiting, Calleigh was considering knocking again when a figure walked up behind them.

"Calleigh?" Calleigh turned around.

"Mike!" she said smiling at her brother.

"I thought it was you! I live across the street now in the old Smith place. What are you doing here?" He asked still smiling bringing her into a hug, when he let go of her he looked at Eric.

"This is Eric Delko, he's a friend of mine," she explained, "Eric this is my brother mike." Eric shook the mans hand, he looked a little like Calleigh he had her eyes but he had short dark hair and was much taller than her.

"Nice to meet you," Mike said, "so, Calleigh what are you doing here, we haven't seen you in 15 years."

"I need to speak to you all, they do still live here," she asked pointing at the house.

"Of course, they'll always live here!" He said opening to door and walking in, Calleigh followed him, grabbing Eric's hand on the way in. Mike walked further into the house, shouting "mom, dad, Dave, is anyone in?"

"In here," a reply came from the kitchen and Mike walked in followed by Calleigh and Eric. Eric noticed a woman sat at the kitchen table who he guessed must be Calleigh's mother, she turned around and looked at them.

"Calleigh, is that you?" she asked, looking straight at Calleigh who was herself near tears.

"Yes mom, it's me," she walked over to her leaning in to hug her.

"Look at you, all grown up," she commented pulling away from Calleigh, "and who is this? She asked nodding in Eric's direction.

"This is my friend Eric," Eric nodded.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

Eric noticed another man enter the kitchen, oblivious to their guests.

"Dave," Mike said causing the younger man to turn around, he looked a lot like Calleigh, he had her eyes and also the blond hair, and although he was taller than Calleigh he was still short.

"Calleigh"! He ran up to her and flung his arms around her shoulders, "I can't believe it's you we all thought we'd never see you again! But you're actually here! What are you doing here anyway?"

"I need to tell you all something, where's dad?" she asked.

"It's ten in the morning Calleigh, where do you think he is?" Dave answered the question before she had the chance to, "the shop just opened, and he ran out of beer last night." Calleigh thought about it, nothing had changed, she'd left years ago and yet everything was just the same.

"Calleigh, sweetheart, come and sit down," he mom pulled up a chair next to her and Calleigh pulled Eric with her as she moved to sit down at the table with her mother. Calleigh watched as her mother took another gulp of the drink in front of her, she could smell the alcohol from where she was sitting. "So come on, tell your old mom what you're up to these days, last I heard you worked for the police in New Orleans." Eric realised Calleigh hadn't been exaggerating when she said she hadn't spoken to her family for years, she'd been working in Miami for nearly ten years.

"Not anymore," Calleigh began to answer, "I'm a CSI in Miami now, have been for a few years."

"My daughter, a CSI, who would've guessed." Just then the front door slammed open and a older man walked through the door, Eric thought this must be her father, he could hardly stand up straight he was so drunk. He walked into the room, and noticed Calleigh.

"Oh, so you finally thought you'd show your face did you?" he looked at Calleigh.

"Dad, how are you?" she asked knowing she wouldn't get a reply, he probably hadn't even heard her.

"I told you your 'new life' wouldn't work out, didn't I? I said you'd end up back here, sponging off us, it took you slightly longer than I thought, but here you are, and mixing with filth I see," he said nodding towards Eric with a look of disgust on his face. Normally Eric would've gone mad, but now he was stunned into silence.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you all, it's about Joe," she started. Her dad continued his rant.

"Joe's another one, no respect that lad, he thought he could tell me what to do, well I told him, didn't I?" he asked looking at his wife who just looked at Calleigh.

"What about Joe?" Mike cut in trying to stop his father shouting.

"Um…well…. Yesterday he turned up in Miami, he's dead," she said.

"No he can't be, he was here only the other week," her mother argued.

"It was him mom, I'm sorry."

"How dare you just turn up like this, on out doorstep and tell us he's dead!" Her father shouted walking towards her, "Get Out!" he yelled.

"Dad, listen…" Calleigh began.

"GET OUT!" He yelled when she didn't move he slapped her hard across the face. Calleigh hadn't been expecting that, she figured she probably should have been, she was home after all.

Eric couldn't believe what he had just seen, he saw red and stood up, Calleigh realised what he was going to do and grabbed hold of him, trying to stop him, punching her father in the face.

"Eric! NO!" She stopped him just in time, grabbing hold of him and dragging him out of the house. Mike followed them wanting to see if Calleigh was ok.

When they were outside, Eric was still fuming, how could this man just lash out like that, Calleigh said he had been violent, but he…. he just never expected this.

"Eric calm down," she said knowing how worked up he was.

"But Calleigh, he…"

"Eric, it doesn't matter." Eric was trying to calm down, but images of her father hitting her like that were imprinted on his brain, no one else in the house seemed to have even noticed it, Mike was stood next to Calleigh, but didn't seem nearly as angry as he should've been. If his father had just done that to one of his sisters, not that he ever would, Eric would kill him and yet Dave and Mike hadn't done anything, just watched as Calleigh dragged Eric outside.

Calleigh was near tears, and she knew it, but there was no way she was going to cry here, not now, she'd gotten away from this once and now it was as if she'd never left. She knew she was going to cry, the tears were welling up in her eyes and she was willing them not to fall. She started walking away quickly knowing she needed to be alone. She felt Eric following her.

"Eric leave me alone," she begged, "I want to be on my own for a while."

"But Calleigh…" he tried to stop her, he hated seeing her upset, he felt Mike grab hold of his arm.

"Leave her," he said to Eric, "she just needs some time, it's been a shock seeing us all again like this. Come on, I'll show you around this dump of a place," he offered knowing Eric needed a distraction.

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TBC…

Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be M rated and will go into Mike telling Eric more about what Calleigh's life was like growing up. If you read this please review, I'd really really appreciate hearing what you think, it isn't hard just click on submit review at the bottom on the page, please! I'll update soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all of your reviews so far, I really appreciate hearing what you think, here's chapter 4 and be warned it's a little heavy!

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Eric watched Calleigh head back to the motel until he couldn't see her anymore. He turned back to Mike and realised he'd actually been stood there a few minutes deep in thought.

"You ok?" Mike asked him.

"Yeah sure, it's just I've never really seen Calleigh upset she always seems so happy, she never mentions her past, I never really realised how much I didn't know about her until we arrived here. I feel like I don't know her anymore," Eric tried to explain. Mike started walking and Eric followed him, falling into step beside him.

"Calleigh always good at hiding her feelings," Mike commented, "but she really is an amazing person, she raised us all from when we were kids, I never remember mom or dad looking after me ever but Calleigh was always there, no matter what. She used to wash us feed us, read us stories take us to school, look after us when we were ill, she was more of a mother to us than ours ever was."

"She is good at looking after people," Eric commented.

"You have no idea, my dad has always been a violent drunk, he'd come home drunk and didn't even need a reason to start laying into us, he'd usually find one anyway. At first it was always Calleigh's fault, he'd find something she hadn't done quite right and hit her, we were only young at the time, I mean I was about five so she must've only been about seven or so. This would happen almost every night, but as time progressed, things would become our fault, he'd come after me or Dave, Calleigh always got in front of him though, always stood there and took the beating for us, in my entire life, my dad has only hit me once, I dread to think the amount of times he must've hit Calleigh."

"Didn't you do something, tell someone."

"Who could we tell? He was the county sheriff, highly respected by the entire town, nobody would believe he beat his own daughter, besides at the time we were young, we didn't know any different. Me and Dave used to share a bedroom and Calleigh and Joe had one each, Joe was terrified of him and used to come and sleep in our room at night. Calleigh used to come in and check we were ok, she used to read us bedtime stories about places where people lived happily ever after and that one day we would live like that. As we got older, dad became more violent, he used to take his belt off when he got angry and stalk the house until he found someone to use it on, Calleigh always made sure he found her first, it got to the point where he'd beat her so badly she'd pass out. When this started happening she took us all out for the day, me and my brothers and showed us a tree house she'd built about a quarter of a mile from our house, she told us, whenever dad comes home drunk, we had to come here. We always did, sometimes Calleigh didn't get out, and sometimes she did. We'd stay there all night, and Calleigh would come and take us home in the morning."

"Wow," was all Eric could manage, he thought about Calleigh, he had no idea she'd been through anything like this, how could she have hidden this from him for so long.

"It got worse, Calleigh was ten years old and one night he came home drunk, only he didn't start screaming and shouting like he usually did, it was late and we were all in bed. When I heard him walking up the stairs, I was terrified, I thought this time it's going to be me, I thought Calleigh was asleep in the next room. He was going to find me and do to me what he'd done to her all those times, how selfish is that? She went through that day in day out so we didn't have to and the one time I could have been there instead, I still wished it on her." Mike hung his head, ashamed, and sat down on a bench at the side of a park.

"That's not selfish, it's what anyone would do, nobody wants to be hurt like that." Eric tried to comfort him, although he liked to think that if he'd been there, he'd have protected Calleigh, but then again he'd seen her father, he'd probably wish it on anyone but himself too.

"It is selfish, Calleigh never wanted to be hurt like that but took it every time anyway, just so we didn't have to," Mike said, "anyway, he reached the top of the stairs and went straight into Calleigh's room, he didn't start hitting her straight away, it remained quiet for ages, I could hear voices, but not raised ones and Calleigh screamed once, but then it all went quiet, I didn't know what to do, if I went in he'd start on me, but then again Calleigh could've been dead. I was terrified, but waited about another hour before I decided I couldn't wait anymore and quietly made my way into her bedroom, I opened the door slowly. Dad was in Calleigh's bed and in the corner of the room Calleigh sat there, she was completely naked, cover in bruises, but not like he'd hit her, not like usual. She just sat there and stared into space, she hadn't even seen me enter the room, I walked up to her and said her name but she just stared straight through me. It scared me so much, at the time I didn't really know hat had happened except he hurt her. Now I know he'd raped her, she just looked so broken and I wanted to kill my dad, I nearly did but Calleigh looked at me and shook her head, I think she knew what I was thinking. Eventually, I got her to stand up and brought her back to our room and put her into my bed. We all climbed into the bed next to her and she hugged us and told us everything was going to be ok. We believed her, we always did."

Eric just sat there listening to what he had to say, he couldn't believe he didn't know this, he would never have guessed, she was always especially focused on the abuse cases at work but he thought everybody was, nobody liked to think of children being hurt, now he realised the true reason for it and it made him sick. To think what Calleigh must've gone through on her own he just wanted to hold her and promise her she'd never be hurt again.

"The next morning she got up and acted as if nothing had happened, she got us ready for school, made us breakfast and we all walked there together. Our parents were never up in the mornings, they usually had to sleep off the drink of the night before. She took us home from school later and continued to act as if nothing had happened. That night dad beat her again and we all continued like normal. Two weeks later he did it again, I went in and brought her to our room, she was out of it again, this happened about every two weeks until she left."

"When did she leave?" Eric asked.

"When she was 18, she got a place at Tulane University with a full scholarship and left this place behind, never to return again, not that I blame her, she more than anyone deserved to get out of here. Me and Dave knew that, Joe was younger, he didn't forgive her for leaving us, he thought she was being selfish and running away, we did our best with him, but it was always Calleigh that he looked up to, we all did."

Eric sat there dumbfounded, Calleigh had gone through that until she was 18, Mike seemed to be reading his mind.

"Your right, she could've got out of here sooner, but she needed to get her place at college before she left, otherwise she knew she'd end up back here and she'd never escape, even when she left she couldn't stop apologizing for leaving us, she felt guilty, can you believe it? Everything she saved us from and she felt guilty! You really love her don't you?" Mike asked.

"How did you know we were going out?" Eric asked.

"It figures, she's happier than I've ever seen her, she told you to say you were just friends because of dad, didn't she, not that it made that much difference, so do you love her?"

"More than anything in the world," Eric replied.

"Good, she deserves to be happy, look after her."

"I will," Eric replied.

"If you ever hurt her, believe me I will kill you, I promise you, she doesn't need any more hurt in her life, she needs love, she's never really had much of that."

And with that they both stood up and began walking back the way they'd come and Eric vowed that he would never let anyone hurt Calleigh again.

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TBC...

Ok, so there you go, a little heavy I know, but next chapter will definitely be M rated. Please review and let me know what you think, thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all of you reviews! This chapter is probably even heavier than the last one but anyway here you go!

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Calleigh arrived back in her hotel room, she was so angry with herself, she'd let her dad hurt her again, well it hadn't actually hurt, but it was more the fact that she'd let it happen that annoyed her. She'd walked out on this years ago, vowing never to let any man hurt her again and now the man that she walked away from in the first place had raised his hand to her again. Calleigh walked into the bathroom and began to run a bath, she thought it might make her feel better, she walked back into the bedroom and began to undress.

Twenty minutes later she was out of the bath and lying on the bed, she still couldn't get her thoughts straight in her head, she was beginning to wonder why she had come back her at all, she could have told them over the phone, they weren't speaking to him anyway and it wasn't like her parents ever cared about anyone but themselves. She still couldn't forgive herself for letting her dad hit her again, she should have let Eric hit him, but she knew that would just cause more trouble. When she had left she had always thought that she'd give her dad a piece of her mind some day, but when she got the job in Miami she realised she didn't need to, she knew she'd escaped and that was enough, but now she was back here and she didn't know what to do anymore, she was beginning to feel like a scared little girl again and it frightened her more than anything.

Just as she was falling asleep, Eric walked in slowly.

"Hey," he said, seeing her lying on the bed in her pyjamas, "bit early to be in bed isn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose, but I was just really tired, didn't sleep well, last night, you know?"

"Yeah," Eric didn't know what to say to her, she didn't know what he knew about her past, and was just acting as she had before he knew, he wanted to hug her and promise her he'd never let anyone hurt her again, but then that would seem weird out of context.

Calleigh noticed Eric seemed deep in thought and realised he and Mike had been talking after she'd left.

"What did he tell you?"

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Mike, you've been speaking to him haven't you?"

"Yeah we did chat a little."

"A little, what did he tell you?"

"Calleigh, why did you never tell me about your childhood?"

"There's nothing to tell." She didn't know what to say, how much had Mike told him? Did he know everything? She didn't even know if Mike knew everything, if she started telling him now, she knew she break, she couldn't let him see that, she'd already cried in front of him once she couldn't let herself show weakness in front of him, besides it was so long ago, there was no point bringing it up now."

"Calleigh…."

"Eric, don't please."

"Calleigh, I love you so much, I hate to see you hurting, and I know you are so don't lie to me."

"I can't do this now Eric, I'm sorry," she said.

"Calleigh, have you ever spoken to anyone about this ever?" He knew how stubborn she was, she had probably bottled it up and had spent her life pretending it didn't happen, she was always proving to everyone that she could handle herself, could look out for herself. He knew she was probably ashamed, although there was no reason for her to be, none of it had been her fault, she had been a child.

"Eric it was so long ago it's not important."

"Calleigh it is important, he hurt you, Mike told me." Eric watched as a lone tear dropped down Calleigh's face, he wanted to go up to her and hug her, but she'd see that as him treating her like a victim and wouldn't allow that to happen, she'd put her walls up. She blinked harder trying to stop further tears falling; she sat down on the bed, he walked over and sat down next to her. "Calleigh talk to me please, I promise I won't hurt you, just let me in." She wiped the tears away from her eyes before starting to talk.

"Eric it's just… it hurts so much, I thought I'd got past it but now I'm back here it's as if I never left. He used drink a lot, so did my mom but she just lived in a fantasy world, nothing was ever real to her, I don't think she ever realised what was going on. Dad would come home drunk looking for someone to take it out on, at first it was just the odd slap, if he was really angry it'd be a punch. He got clever though never hit where it'd lay a mark where someone might see, but you don't understand Eric, it was my fault, it was always my fault, I should never have wound him up, I deserved it." Eric couldn't believe Calleigh actually believed it was her fault, she had lived with this for all of these and blamed herself for all of this time.

"Calleigh, this was not your fault, none of it, you were just a child."

"You don't understand Eric, he got more and more violent, I was terrified of him, he'd walk about the house, his belt already ready, I wanted to hide, I was scared, but I couldn't let him hurt the boys they didn't deserve that, besides, they weren't used to it, I figured if I just took it every time then they'd be ok and they'd be able to live normally the way I wanted to." Eric placed his arms around her shoulders and hugged her to him.

"One night about 3 weeks after my tenth birthday he came home drunk, I thought he was going to come and hit me again, I tried to pretend I was asleep when he came in my room. He didn't start shouting, he just sat on the edge of my bed and looked at me, I didn't know what to do, I was beginning to wish he'd just start hitting me and get it over with. He didn't. He started stroking my face and telling me I was beautiful, I was confused, I didn't know what he going to do, he pulled the covers back and began unbuttoning my pyjamas. I just lay there, I couldn't move. He leant forward and kissed me, pushing his tongue into my mouth, he tasted like alcohol, I tried to push him away but he was too heavy."

Eric knew what was coming, part of him didn't want to hear it, but he figured if Calleigh had had to go through this, then the least he could do was listen to her talk about it.

"His hands travelled further down my body, I just wanted him to stop, but he wouldn't, he removed my trousers and then put his had into my panties and touched me then he began to remove them." Calleigh was crying now and Eric felt so useless he just held her and listened. "He stood up and undressed himself, he started touching himself, he grabbed my hand and made me touch him, I didn't want to Eric, I promise."

"Hey, I know, it's going to be ok."

"He made me sit up, and them grabbed hold of the back of my head and forced it down, pushing himself into my mouth. I choked on him, I couldn't breath, he hand hold of the back of my head forcing himself into my throat, I thought I was going to die, he was moaning, telling me to suck on him, I couldn't breath, I nearly passed out, he kept moving and then he said he was coming and that I had to swallow it all or he'd kill me. I did as I was told." Calleigh looked at the floor, tears streaming down her face, she was ashamed and blamed herself, assumed she could have stopped it if she had really wanted to, Eric just held her tighter and stroked her back, trying to comfort her.

"I thought that'd be it, that'd he'd stop now, I knew I couldn't take anymore. He waited a few minutes, just looking at me, he grew hard again, he climbed on top of me, he said that I was to be a good girl because I wanted him really, he said I'd been leading him on, and that mom had stopped being 'nice' to him so I had to do it instead. He kissed me, and then forced himself into me hard, I screamed and he slapped me, he stopped for a second to make sure no one had heard, and then kept slamming into me harder and faster, I thought he was going to kill me, I wanted to die, I just wanted this to all be over. It seemed to go on forever, it hurt so much. When he finished, he pulled himself out of me and told me he loved me, it was the first time I ever remembering him saying that to me. Do you know how confusing that is, one minute he's hurting you so much you think you're about to die, and the next he's saying the words you've always wanted him to say. After that he passed out on top of me, I couldn't stand to feel him on top of me any more, I climbed out of bed and just sat on the floor reliving it, about an hour later Mike came in and found me."

"It's ok, he can't hurt you anymore, I promise I'm never going to let him hurt you again."

"This happened again most days, he'd usually only try it when everybody was out and we were the only people in the house, then I could scream all I wanted and nobody heard anything. I'm so sorry Eric."

"What for?"

"Everything." Eric held her as she began to stop crying.

"Come on lets go to bed, so what if it's a little early."

Calleigh gave him a weak smile and climbed into bed, Eric walked over to the curtains and shut them before climbing into bed next to her. She slid across the bed and cuddled up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her.

"I promise you Calleigh, I'll never let anyone hurt you again." He leant down and kissed her head and they both drifted off sleep in each others arms.

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TBC…

Thanks for reading this, please read and review, let me know what you think!

I'm very jealous of everybody living in America at the moment, you all got to watch the season 5 finale last night, and we still have to wait 10 weeks until the start of season 5 here in England it's so not fair, does any body know where there any clips of the season 5 finale on the internet that i could watch, i'm dying to see some of it!


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for your reviews! I finally got to watch the season 5 finale on the internet and you were all right, it wasn't really that great although I really don't think Calleigh wanted to kiss Jake, he kissed her and she didn't even seem into it, but she definitely wants Eric the look she gave him, she felt guilty, I'm sure of it! Well actually that's probably just me, but let me believe it, it makes me happy to think that Calleigh and Eric will eventually be together! Anyway, here's chapter 6, it's actually my third draft all of which were completely different, anyway, I really need to learn to shut up, here it is…

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When Eric woke up Calleigh was still lying in his arms, although they'd rolled over and his head was now resting on her chest, he just looked up at her, she looked so peaceful when she was asleep, he thought about what she'd been through and wanted to go and rip her dad to shreds for it, he knew she'd never allow it. He still had pictures in his head of her being hurt and just wanted to make them go away, he figured it must've been worse for Calleigh, his pictures were only what he'd imagined, hers were real, she'd been there, endured what he had done and survived. Calleigh moved in her sleep, her hands were on his shoulders pushing him away.

"Daddy no," she said quietly still pushing him off her, Eric moved so he wasn't leaning on her anymore.

"Please daddy, stop it!" she said more loudly this time.

"Calleigh wake up," Eric said shaking her gently, "Calleigh…" He watched as her eyes opened, "It's ok, you had a nightmare." He looked at her and she smiled at him, she looked so beautiful, she lifted her head up and kissed him deeply on the lips, only stopping when they ran out of air, Calleigh rested her head back on his chest. Calleigh thought it was sweet that he'd woken her up, little did he know that this wasn't really a nightmare anymore, just the same dream she'd had had every night for years.

"I wish we could just stay like this forever," Calleigh said, "I like lying like this."

"Me too," he replied kissing her on the top of her head.

"We should get up," she stated although herself not really willing to move from the comfortable position she found herself in.

"We should…" Eric said, "but do we really have to?" he asked.

"Yes," she said jumping out of bed, "come on get up." She said picking up a pillow and throwing it at him, he grabbed hold of her and brought his lips crashing towards hers, he pulled her backwards, until she fell onto the bed on top of him.

"Ow!" she said rubbing her stomach where he had accidentally kneed her.

"Oops, sorry let me see, I'll kiss it better," he said rolling her over until he was on top of her, he lifted the edge of her top up and stopped. He couldn't believe what he was looking at, her entire stomach was covered with scars, criss-crossed all over her delicate skin. Calleigh suddenly realised what she'd let him see and pulled her top back down.

"Calleigh…" he started.

"Don't," she answered, wondering how she could have let him see them, they were having fun and now this had ruined it, "it's no big deal."

"They're from what he did aren't they?"

"Yes," she said, suddenly losing her confidence.

"Let me see," he said, expecting her to refuse, she'd be showing her weakness and Calleigh Duquesne never showed her weakness to anyone. He watched her nod and slowly she sat up and removed her top, he looked down at her body, scars spanned her soft skin, angry belt marks as he looked closer there were faint bite marks on her breasts also. He still couldn't believe what her father had done to her, this was just too much.

Calleigh noticed his reaction, he was disgusted by her, she knew he had every right to be but it still hurt. She grabbed her top and covered up before jumping out of bed and beginning to get dressed, as she stood up, Eric noticed more scars over her back and walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her stomach and bringing her into a hug. She began shaking, crying, he held her, he felt useless, just watching as her sobs wracked her entire body then he felt her knees buckle and she fell toward the ground but he held her up and brought her slowly towards the bed sitting her down on it.

"I'm sorry Eric, it's just… well everything, being back here, facing all of this and you were never supposed to find out any of this, it was my secret. I don't mind if you don't want me anymore, I'm used goods, dirty, my dad made sure to mark me as his. The last guy I nearly told, found the scars and freaked out, he left me."

"I'm not going anywhere, that guy was a jerk, I love you so much, it just hurts me to know how much you have suffered."

"Thanks Eric," she said kissing him softly on the lips. "I have to go back round to the house today Eric, the funeral needs sorting."

"Well lets get up now, we can go round and get it sorted," Eric replied, knowing she needed to change the subject.

"No, I'm going round on my own."

"Calleigh, you can't I'm coming with you, I'm not letting you go around there on your own."

"Eric, you can't come, you're so mad at my dad, you'll do something stupid, even if you think you won't I know that when you see him you'll hit him or worse."

"He deserves it Cal, and more, how can you not want him dead?"

"Sometimes I do, I can't forgive him for what he did, but Eric, when he was sober he was a good man, he used to take us to the park to the swings as I got older he was the one that showed me how to fire a gun, didn't stop until I was a better shot than he was. Granted, he wasn't sober often but when he was he was a good man. Besides, even if he died, it wouldn't change anything that happened, that's already done, I can't forgive him but I can try and be civil, be better than him."

"Calleigh, you'll always be better than him, always, you're smart, beautiful and funny, you're the most amazing person I've ever met, and when I think how you grew up I don't understand how you are as fantastic as you are."

"Well, that's very kind, Eric, but you're still not coming, I don't want you to do something stupid, if you hit him, you'll be as bad as him and I don't want that, I love you too much."

"Calleigh, I could never end up like that, I love you."

"He said he loved me too," was all Calleigh said before standing up and continuing to get dressed. Eric thought about what she said, he knew he could never hurt her, but he was beginning to realise how hard it was for Calleigh to trust anyone after what she had been through, it explained why Calleigh was as she was, she always looked out for herself, could handle herself, she knew no one else was going to look out for her so she had to. She never let anyone see her emotions, couldn't let herself show her vulnerability, she had learnt from a young age that people can only hurt them if you let them, if you show them how, they will. Eric knew he needed to show her that it didn't have to be like that anymore, but it'd be hard she'd lived like this for so long.

"Calleigh, please let me come, I hate to think of you going to that house on your own, I promise I won't do anything stupid, I promise. Even if I do want to punish him for what he did, that's not my right, that right belongs to you only."

"Ok, please don't do anything stupid, I don't want any trouble, we just need to get the funeral out of the way and then we can go home to Miami and get on with our lives please." Calleigh was cut off by Eric's phone ringing.

"Delko." He answered it.

After a short conversation with who Calleigh figured was Horatio he put the phone down.

"What did he want?" She asked.

"They've closed the investigation into your brothers death."

"And?"

"He was drunk, he picked a fight with some guy who hit him back in self defence, it was one hit, I'm sorry Calleigh."

"It's all my fault," she said sitting down on the bed, "I left him when he was too young, I should have stayed longer, I thought Mike and Dave would look after him, he went off the rails instead, if I hadn't gone to university then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Calleigh, you don't know that, it may have happened anyway. You had to get out of here, you stayed so long, looked after them as well as you could but you had to live your own life, if you hadn't have left then you may never have left and you may have ended up dead."

"Thanks Eric, I'm so glad you came I don't think I'd be able to do this without you." Calleigh said as the two of them began to get ready to go around and talk to her family.

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TBC…

So there you go, please read and review! I'll update soon!


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for all of your reviews I really appreciate hearing what you think! Here's chapter 7…

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Calleigh and Eric were about to leave the hotel room to revisit her parents house, Eric was telling himself not to get angry with her dad, he knew she'd only let him come because he had promised not to do anything stupid, but every time he thought he was calm an image of the scars would flash across his mind and he would want to kill him all over again.

"Eric…" Calleigh started, "now do you understand why I wanted to take things slowly?"

"Of course," Eric didn't need to think about it, of course he understood, she'd been through hell, of course she didn't want to have sex with him, sex was only a way of being hurt in her head, he knew he wanted to show her it didn't have to be like that, he wanted to show her how much he loved her, but he also knew he was willing to wait as long as it took until she was ready.

"There's something you should know, when I got to Tulane, I…I…I found…I found….."

"Calleigh?"

"I found out I was pregnant," she finished.

"Oh my god. I had no idea, what happened?"

"I couldn't decide what to do, I had it in my head that having an abortion would make me as bad as him, but the thought of having a living reminder of what they'd done scared the life out of me."

"They?" Eric asked.

"What?"

"You said 'what they'd done' not 'what he'd done', who is they?"

"Um, no one, nothing I meant 'he'," Calleigh replied.

"What did you do about the baby?" Eric asked, thinking she must've had an abortion, she didn't have a baby now and it was definitely what he would have done.

"I had it, a little girl, she was the most beautiful baby in the world," she said as tears began streaming down her face, "I named her Emma, she was so pretty she had big blue eyes you could get lost in, I loved her so much."

Eric didn't know what to say, what happened to the baby? He didn't think Calleigh would've been able to put a baby up for adoption but she was only 18, just a kid really, she would've struggled. Calleigh seemed to be able to read his mind.

"She was born 7 weeks premature, she had to have machines to keep her alive," Calleigh was crying full flow now, Eric put his arms around her and sat her back down on the bed, "she hung on for 3 weeks, but eventually she gave up, but she was a fighter, they said she wouldn't last a day, but she was getting stronger, I thought she was going to make it but she didn't, they tried to see if she could breath on her own, but she couldn't, eventually they said they had to turn off the machines, she died in my arms."

"Calleigh, I'm so so sorry," Eric was in shock, how could he not have known this, as if she hadn't been through enough.

"It's ok Eric, it's not your fault, and besides it was a long time ago, I don't know, after telling you everything yesterday, I felt better knowing that somebody else knew, I thought maybe it'd be the same with this, I'm sorry."

"I'm glad you told me, so you've never told anybody this?"

"No, no one, at uni I think people may have guessed but I covered it up quite well, and as she was early I never actually got that big and I stayed at the hospital until she died. After she died I went back to college, threw myself back into my studies, didn't think about anything from my past, I tried to move on. I thought that if I slept with someone else I could forget about what they did, so I went to a bar and met this guy and went back to his place, I know you must think I'm a slut but I needed to forget, I thought after I'd be able to forget. It didn't work the entire time he was on top of me I was crying, I wanted him to stop but I'd led him on, I'd gone back to his place, I'd wanted to have sex with him."

"Calleigh…."

"I know it was stupid, but I needed to forget, when it didn't work I tried it with other guys until I just gave up trying and just went numb, I just thought you should know all of the facts before you get involved with me, you should know what I'm really like."

"Calleigh, that wasn't the real you, I know that, you'd just escaped from hell, it wasn't your fault." Eric was sure Calleigh was still keeping something from him, he noticed she'd said 'they' again and she still seemed secretive, but he didn't want to push her, she'd already let him in, told him secrets she'd kept her entire life, he knew it must've been hard for her to trust him, he figured she'd tell him when she was ready. He felt like he was getting to know the real Calleigh, the person behind the mask, not the Calleigh she pretended to be when at work, the one who had been used and abused her entire life and yet never let anyone see how much she was hurting.

"Thanks Eric, maybe we should go, if we get there too late, dad will already be half cut," she smiled before placing a light kiss on his lips then standing up.

"Yeah," Eric replied, also standing up. They both walked out of the door and out of the hotel and began walking towards Calleigh's parents' house hand in hand. They arrived 10 minutes later.

"Are you ready?" Calleigh asked him.

"Always," he replied squeezing her hand. Calleigh raised her hand and knocked on the door, preparing for another argument with her father, she was also worried about what Eric would do, she knew he'd said he wouldn't do anything but she knew better than most that when emotions ran high anything could happen.

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Thanks for reading this and please please please review and let me know what you think, I promise I'll update soon! 


	8. Chapter 8

Ok this is very short, I'm sorry I've been really busy but I promise I will update with a much longer chapter in the next few days! So please read and review!

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Calleigh raised her hand to knock on the door, but before she could knock the door swung open and Calleigh's dad stood there staring at them.

"What do you want?" he asked, trying to walk past them.

"We need to sort out the funeral," Calleigh said, "his body is being brought back here later today so I thought that we could have it the day after tomorrow."

"Do what you like, I don't care!" He replied still trying to get past them.

"Dad, I really think we should talk about this now."

"Later, go and talk to your mom or something, I don't care, he deserved what he got."

"That's not fair!" Calleigh retorted, walking past him into the house, Eric followed her resisting the temptation to punch his lights out, looking at him, thinking about what he'd done and seeing Calleigh act normally around him made him even more angry. Calleigh's dad walked past them slamming the door behind him.

Calleigh walked into the kitchen where her mum was sat nursing a bottle of vodka.

"Mom," Calleigh said sitting down next to her, "how are you?"

"I'm ok, what are you doing here?"

"We need to arrange the funeral."

"I don't want to," she replied taking another drink.

"I know this is hard mom, but it really needs sorting, his body is being brought here and I thought we could have the funeral the day after tomorrow, but it needs to be arranged." Dave then walked into the room, he looked as though he was half asleep, and went straight to the fridge looking for breakfast.

"Calleigh, I take it you're here to sort out the funeral," he said turning around to face her.

"Yes," she replied, Dave sat down and soon after Mike also showed up and they began talking about the funeral.

After about an hour, most of the details had been decided and only a few phone calls were left to be made, the funeral date was set for the day after tomorrow and Calleigh was dreading it already, although on the good side she figured after the funeral was over she and Eric could go back to Miami and get on with their lives. She knew she still had her secrets from Eric, and trying to keep him from her family was going to be hard for the next few days but she knew she wasn't quite ready to tell him the truth yet, but that time would come and Calleigh wasn't entirely sure how he would react.

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Ok I know this was very very short, but I promise you it's a lead up to the funeral chapter next where there will be fireworks, so I promise to update soon and I'm sorry it's so short but please review anyway! 


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for the reviews, I know it's been a while and that the last chapter was short but I promise you I've made up for it now, this chapter is twice as long as my average chapter so please enjoy!

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It was the day of the funeral and Calleigh was dreading it, her entire family were all going to be in the same place at the same time, and whenever that happened there was always, always trouble. She and Eric had spent the previous day, checking everything was set for the funeral and Calleigh had shown him around Darnell, where she'd gone to school and around the park, they'd gone out for a meal in a local restaurant which Calleigh had enjoyed. It'd been the first time since they'd arrived here that they'd been able to act like a normal couple, they'd talked about work and Eric was telling her funny stories from his childhood, they told jokes and Calleigh laughed so much for the first time in too long, she had been happy. As she woke up she saw Eric looking down at her and smiled before pulling him down to kiss her.

"Well, good morning to you too," Eric said releasing the kiss and looking at her, her hair was a mess and she didn't have any makeup on but Eric thought she still looked incredibly beautiful.

"What time is it?" she asked trying to look at the clock, but he was in the way.

"8am," Eric replied.

"Oh my god, I slept in, there's still so much to do, I have to get up, have a shower, get dressed, go and see my family, make sure everyone's ready and get to the church."

"Calleigh calm down we have plenty of time, I've had a shower so you can go and have one now, and your things will be waiting for you by the time you get out, ok?"

"Thanks Eric," she said, before getting out of bed and walking into the bathroom, she undressed and got into the shower, turning it on full blast, the water was cold, but it woke her up. She just wanted to get the day over and done with so she could go home and get on with her life and never be reminded of this place ever again, she had managed to forget about this place once but coming back had dragged the past back up and she just wanted to forget it again so she could live like she had happily in Miami for years. She thought about Joe, no matter how many times she was told that his death wasn't her fault, she still blamed herself, she remembered the scared little boy he used to be when dad would come home how he was too scared to sleep in his own bed at night. To think he had turned out like her dad made her feel guilty, she knew she had tried her best to stop that happening but she hadn't done enough, he'd become a violent drunk and it was that that in the end had killed him.

She got out of the shower and dried off and walked back into the bedroom, where Eric had laid out her outfit on the bed with a note saying that he'd just gone to get them some breakfast. She got dressed and then looked in the mirror trying to decide what to do with her hair; she figured she should probably make the effort to dry it rather than just tying it back, she rummaged around the drawers in the room looking for the hairdryer, when she found it she turned it on full blast trying to dry her hair as straight as possible. Ten minutes later, she was almost ready when Eric walked into the room with pancakes, she smiled at him and sat down on the bed taking the plate off him and began eating.

Eric noticed she was very quiet and wanted to ask her if she was ok, although he thought it would be a pretty stupid question seeing as it was the day of her brothers' funeral. He tried to figure out how he would feel it had been one of his sisters, but the thought was just too horrible, instead, he tried to come up with other ways of getting her to talk, without mentioning the day ahead. In the end he didn't have to because she spoke first.

"These are nice, but wait until you try mine, I make awesome pancakes, I'll make you some when we get home."

"I'll hold you to that," he replied, finishing his pancakes and standing up to check himself in the mirror, he felt a bit weird about going to the funeral, it wasn't like he'd ever even met the man, and from what he'd heard, he wouldn't have liked him if he had. He was going for Calleigh, he knew this was going to be a hard day for her, and there was no way he was going to let her be alone with her dad for a second, he wanted to be there, to protect her, although he knew that she'd hate for anyone to think she needed protecting. She was a strong woman who could look after herself, it was only since coming here that he'd realised why, before he'd never questioned it, it was just Calleigh and that's the way she had always been.

"We should get going," she said before standing up and grabbing her bag off the side, Eric walked out of the door and she followed him after checking her hair and makeup in the mirror first. They walked hand in hand to Calleigh's parent's house. When they arrived the door was already open so Calleigh walked in followed by Eric, they went straight into the kitchen where Mike and Dave were waiting in their suits, Calleigh's mom walked in dressed but her hair was a mess and she was yet to put her makeup on, her dad walked in he was still in his pyjamas and had a bottle of beer in his hand. Calleigh turned to look at her brothers, they were all supposed to be leaving in less than 10 minutes and her parents still looked like this, her brothers just shrugged at her.

"Dad, why aren't you ready?" she asked him.

"I'm getting ready now, I just need a quick drink first."

"No dad, come on lets get you dressed," she said taking his hand and leading him up the stairs, Eric watched, he wanted to go with her, make sure her dad didn't hurt her, it amazed him that she'd do that for him, that she'd even let him anywhere near her after what he'd done, the idea of him touching her made him feel sick yet she was just acting as if it was no big deal.

Calleigh led her dad up the stairs and into his bedroom, where she opened the wardrobe and pulled out his suit and passed it to him, taking the bottle of beer out of his hand and placing it on the side.

"We had some good times in here, didn't we Cal?" he said. Calleigh couldn't believe he'd just said that but decided not to get into this now and avoided the question.

"Come on dad, get dressed we have to leave soon," she said, trying to hurry him up. He walked over to her placing a hand on her cheek.

"Come on Cal, just one last time," he pulled her closer to him.

"Dad! No! Get off me!" she said, pushing him away, she picked up his suit and threw it at him, "just get dressed and be downstairs in 5 minutes, hurry up." Calleigh left the room and headed back down the stairs, she didn't want to think about what had jus happened, how could her dad think he could get away with that? She was near tears but was desperately trying to stop; she didn't want everyone to see that she was upset. She walked back into the kitchen, her brothers and Eric were standing there, her mom must've gone to finish getting ready. Calleigh walked over to Eric and took hold of his hand.

Eric realised she was upset when she squeezed his hand, he knew something had happened upstairs, he didn't know what, he didn't want to think, he just held her hand as they all waited in silence for her parents to get ready.

After another 10 minutes her parents appeared and they all made their way to the church, Calleigh and Eric walked together, he desperately wanted to hold her hand, but her dad still didn't know they were together and Eric didn't want to cause any more trouble, he just wanted to get the day over with, so her just kept brushing his arm against hers, it was nothing really but he found it comforting and he hoped she did too.

After the funeral, they all made their way to the wake which was being held back at the house. Eric thought the service had been a nice small service, Mike had said a few words and it had gone without a hitch, there had been a few locals there who were also headed back to the house, Eric had been introduced to them but couldn't really remember who was who. Calleigh had been holding back her tears very well, but he knew she would break if she was upset any further. When they all reached the house, they went inside and Mike made sure that everybody had a drink and Calleigh began getting out some food that had been prepared the day before, it was just some sandwiches and sausage rolls but it gave everybody something to do. All they had to do was get through this and then they would be able to get on with their lives.

As the wake progressed, people were making small talk and Calleigh sat with her mom and Eric, her dad was becoming more and more drunk, he started talking to people only he was yelling at them, and they soon began to leave. Mike and Dave decided they'd walk some of the guests home as they also had had a little too much to drink, only Calleigh, Eric and her parents' were left. Calleigh just wanted to say goodbye to them and get going but she also wanted to say bye to her brothers as well as chances were she was probably not likely to see them again for a while. Calleigh and Eric walked out of the kitchen into the hallway as her parents each found themselves another drink, they stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you ok?" Eric asked her.

She just nodded in reply.

"Do you want to leave?"

"I want to say bye to Mike and Dave first, they should be back soon."

Eric nodded in understanding and caressed her face before kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Ah, I knew it!" her dad came from the kitchen, "you're fucking him!"

"Dad, it's not like that, not that it's any or your business!" she yelled back.

"Of course it is, men only want one thing!"

"Well you would know!" Calleigh screamed at him, she'd had enough, she'd been civil to him since she arrived, she spent years of her life terrified of him and more telling herself she didn't need to tell him what she thought of him, but she was wrong, she had to tell him and now was the perfect time. "You wrecked my childhood, I never got to be a kid because I was too scared of you, of what you'd do, I'm not scared of you anymore, you can't hurt me anymore, all the beatings, I was your punch bag, well not anymore. I've got a good life now, one miles away from here, I've got a good job, an apartment and boyfriend who I love more than anything in the world, and you know what dad, he loves me, properly, not like you did." Calleigh looked over at Eric, who nodded at her, she had to say this, it was her right to tell him what she thought of him, Eric still wanted to kill the man, but at least this way Calleigh got to let out all the emotions she'd been bottling up for years.

"I just did what I thought was best for you and the boys."

"For the best?! You came into my bed at night and raped me, you took away a part of me that I'll never get back," Calleigh was getting so mad now, how could her dad seriously think that what he had done had been for the best, before she'd always thought he'd just done it because he was drunk, he didn't know what he was doing, but hearing him now, he had no idea how what he'd done had impacted on her life. She just kept yelling at him, "You sold me!"

Eric was sure he hadn't heard that correctly but continued to listen as her dad answered back.

"We did what we thought was best, Jack loved you like I did."

"No, you just did everything together didn't you, you worked together, went to the pub together, watched the matches together, what was it, why not rape your daughter together too?!"

Eric couldn't believe what he was hearing, he shook his head thinking he must've been mistaken, this couldn't have happened, she would have told him before now.

"No, no it wasn't like that!" her father argued back.

"No of course it wasn't, because you soon got bored of that didn't you? Next it was let's see if anybody else wants a bit of her, bringing your friends round here, you let them take it in turns, whilst you and Jack watched, they paid you so they could rape me! Only you got bored of that too, it was let's take the pictures, lets film it, you sold them too, didn't you?"

Eric thought he was going to be sick.

"Calleigh, we didn't have any money."

"Don't you even think you can use that as an excuse, that's pathetic, you're pathetic! No we didn't have any money, but don't even pretend that's why you did it, you enjoyed what you did! You just sold me like I was a piece of meat, something you could just pass around your friends, you prostituted me! The only reason we didn't have any money is because you drank it all! Look at what you did to me!" She yelled yanking the front of her top up to reveal some of the scars on her abdomen.

Her dad walked up to her and placed a hand on her abdomen, he knew he'd done what he had to in order to keep her in line, make sure she didn't misbehave, all those marks were the lessons he'd taught her, he thought he'd done a good job only now she was fucking a Cuban!

"Don't touch me!"

He grabbed hold of her arm he wanted to stop her yelling, the neighbours were going to hear.

"I said get off me!" Eric was about to step in when the man removed his hand from her arm.

"You're making me sound like the bad guy here Calleigh, you wanted me to do that, you enjoyed it, if you didn't you would have stopped it, you hardly ever told me no, I was doing what was best for you."

"Don't you dare say that! You hurt me, I thought you were going to kill me. I was 10 years old when you started on me, how could I possibly have stopped you, you ruined my life! I'm only just beginning to rebuild it because of what you did, I hate you so much! You even thought you could try it again this morning!"

Eric had had enough, he saw red, he hated Calleigh's dad so much, he wanted to hurt him physically, make him endure what Calleigh had, he knew that was impossible. He couldn't hold back anymore, he lunged at the man punching him in the face, he fell to the floor, Eric kept kicking him over and over again, this man had ruined Calleigh's life and thought there was nothing wrong with that.

"Eric! Eric stop!" Calleigh was yelling at him trying to pull him away. Eric was not paying attention, Calleigh's dad didn't even put up a fight he just lay there and took it. Eric kept hearing the words that had been said, thinking about what had been done to Calleigh, he wanted to kill him, he was so angry.

Calleigh kept yelling at Eric to stop, as much as she hated her dad, this was what he had done, she didn't want Eric to be like that, she knew she shouldn't have lost it in the first place, all that didn't need to come out now, especially not in front of Eric but she was so angry she just couldn't help herself.

Eventually Eric stopped and her dad lay on the floor bleeding, she ran up to him and knelt at his side trying to feel a pulse but she couldn't find one…

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There you go! So has Eric killed Calleigh's dad and if he has what will happen to him? Please read and review, your reviews are the only thing that keep me writing and I promise I will update sooner this time! 


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all of the reviews! Here's chapter 10!

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"Call 911!" Calleigh told Eric, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and went outside to get a better signal. Calleigh continued to try and find a pulse, she thought he had a weak one but wasn't sure. Calleigh's mom walked further into the hallway.

"Calleigh, is he going to be ok?" she asked.

"I don't know," Calleigh replied truthfully, "he's lost a lot of blood." Calleigh was trying to put pressure on the wounds to try and stop the bleeding, but there was a lot of blood. She turned around a looked up to see Eric stood there.

"The ambulance is on its way," he said looking down at Calleigh; she seemed desperate to save her fathers life despite what he had done to her. The door opened again and Mike and Dave walked in.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Mike said, bending down to try and help Calleigh.

"Eric beat him up," she answered flatly.

"It wasn't like that…" Eric tried to explain, Calleigh was angry with him, he didn't know why, after all the things he had just heard what was he supposed to do, shake hands with the man?

"About time someone gave him a taste of his own medicine," Dave said looking down at the man he hated so much, he also was struggling to believe how much Calleigh seemed to not want him to die. His dad had never touched him because Calleigh always got in the way, he still remembered the times when he'd beat her so badly she'd pass out and he, Mike and Joe would sit at her side trying to get her to wake up, every time they were convinced that this time he had actually killed her.

About 5 minutes later the ambulance arrived and they put him onto a stretcher and carried him away in the back of the ambulance, Calleigh's mom went with him and Calleigh gave them her card and told them to call her when there was a change in his condition.

As they all watched the ambulance drive away, Calleigh turned around and glared at Eric, she couldn't believe how he'd ruined everything, they were about to go home, they'd got through all this and then he had to go and do something stupid like this. She couldn't bear to look at him anymore and just turned and ran, she knew exactly where she was going, she just kept running hoping that no one was following her. When she got there she just sat and cried, how come everything in her life always went so wrong? Why was she never allowed to be happy for more than a few days?

Eric watched her run off, he knew she was angry with him, he wanted to go and find her he wanted a chance to explain his actions, he was trying to protect her, couldn't she see that, he didn't want her father to have a hold over her life anymore. He started to run after her, but managed to lose her before he even reached the end of the street, he turned around and walked back to her brothers who were still standing on the edge of the road.

"Give her some time," Mike said, trying to calm Eric down," she just needs some time to figure things out in her head."

"She hates me," Eric said, "I need to explain, it's just I heard all those things she and her dad were saying and I hated him so much, how could he do those things to her, she was just a kid."

"I know, but….."

"No you don't understand, I need to find her," Eric said walking off in the direction she had run.

"Wait," Mike said, running a little to catch up with him, "I know where she'll be." Mike stood talking to Eric for a couple of minutes, giving him directions, and then Eric ran off in one direction and Mike walked back towards his brother.

Eric kept running through the park to some wasteland on the other side and just like Mike had said there was a tree to one side in which there was a tree house, he remembered when he first talked to Mike that this was where they'd come and hide at night in order to avoid their dad. He walked over to the tree and managed to climb up a broken rope ladder and found Calleigh sitting inside rocking herself tears streaming down her face.

"Calleigh…"

"Eric, what are you doing here, get out!" She yelled back at him she was so angry.

"Calleigh please let me explain."

"No, he might die Eric, you could have killed him."

"But what he did, I heard what you said to him, what was I supposed to do?"

"Just leave it! You didn't have to do anything, she could have been on our way home now, but no you had to ruin everything, how could you do that to him?"

"He hurt you, he deserved it!"

"You see, how can I trust you now? You promised you wouldn't do anything but look what you've done. How do I know that one day I won't do something that annoys you and you won't do that to me?" Eric stopped, he couldn't believe she had just said that, he could never do that to her.

"Calleigh I love you, I could never do that to you."

"How do I know that's true? He said he loved me and look at how that turned out, I never even thought you'd be capable of something like this, but now I don't know what to think." Eric slid over to her and took hold of her hand. "Don't touch me!" she slid her hand free of his.

"Calleigh please, I just heard what you said, I just wanted to protect you, make sure he didn't hurt you." Calleigh softened a little.

"Where were when I was growing up?" She smiled at him, "I know you just wanted to protect me, but I needed to show him that he can't hurt me any more, and he can't I'm not scared anymore. Only now you gave him another way to hurt me, they could arrest you for this, you could go to prison, lose your job, what would I do then?"

"That won't happen," Eric said, he hadn't really thought about it at the time, he was just so angry.

"You don't know that," she replied and he knew it was true.

"Calleigh, I love you so much, I hate that man for what he did to you, why didn't you tell me everything before?"

"I didn't know what you'd do, I thought you'd be disgusted with me, I let it happen, I should have stopped it, but when I fought them, they did it anyway, and I'd get a beating as well, I wanted to tell you, I really did but I didn't know how you'd react, I've never told anyone about it before." Eric's heart broke, she looked so small and hurt just sitting there with tears falling down her face, he moved even closer to her and put an arm around her shoulder hugging her to him.

"I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, and I mean anything, what they did was not your fault, you didn't deserve that, and you were just a kid there was no way you could have stopped it, even if you ad tried," Eric tried to comfort her, he wanted her to open up to him, she'd never told anybody about this, he figured her brothers didn't know either, Mike would've mentioned it before now, it must've been driving her mad, but you'd never guess to look at her, she was always calm and happy.

"I want to talk to you Eric, I really do, I want to trust you, but it's just…."

"I know its hard Cal, I love you so much, if you just let me in I promise I won't hurt you, never I love you too much."

"When my dad first…when he hurt me the first time, I hated him so much, but I still loved him, you know?" Calleigh began, "he's my dad and he always will be and I will love him, no matter what he does, I may hate him more but I will always love him. This is going to sound stupid, but every time he hurt me it seemed to hurt less, it was always the same, I knew what he was going to do, how much it was going to hurt and when it would be over. One day he told me I wasn't going to school, I didn't know what was going to happen but he waited until my brothers went to school and my mom went to bingo, he brought Jack around. He said they were going to have a little fun, it was horrible I thought they were going to kill me, the things they made me do, I didn't want to, I told them to stop but they just laughed at me. When Jack hurt me, it was different every time, it started to hurt more, it'd last longer and I didn't even know if I'd be alive when he did finish with me, he scared me. He didn't have a right to do that, my dad was my dad so it was as if at least he had some right, but Jack just worked with my dad, yet he hurt me so much, I couldn't stop him." Calleigh was still crying and Eric held her to him, he was glad she was opening up to him, he wanted her to let it out so she could move on, so she didn't have to carry this alone anymore.

"Your dad had no right to do that Calleigh, no right at all."

"I know that now, but at the time it just seemed so normal, I didn't really know it was wrong, it was just his way of punishing me." Calleigh jumped as her phone started ringing, she answered it "Duquesne."

"Ok right, I'll be right there, thank you," she spoke before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Eric asked.

"The hospital, it's dad….."

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Ok so there's chapter 10, I hope you enjoyed it, I promise to update again as soon as possible. Please read and review! 


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for all of you reviews, here's chapter 11!

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After running to the nearest road, Calleigh and Eric had managed to jump in the first cab they saw, and were now sitting in silence, on their way to the hospital. Eric didn't know what to say to her, should he apologize, he wasn't sorry he'd done what he did, only that she was upset with him for it, as far as he was concerned he'd be glad if her dad died, he should rot in hell for what he had done. He was still amazed by how concerned Calleigh was for her dad, he knew it was her dad and all but he thought if he'd been in her position, he'd definitely want him dead.

Calleigh's head was spinning, she couldn't think straight, so much had happened in the last few hours, she just wanted to turn back time and make sure none of this ever happened so she could go back to Miami and get on with her life. Sure, she hated her dad, but if he died and Eric went to prison for murder she didn't think she'd be able to cope without him. She knew this was her fault, everything usually was, but if she'd just kept her mouth shut for a few more hours, Eric wouldn't have known anymore and wouldn't have beat her dad to a pulp and she wouldn't be on the way to the hospital to see if he was still alive. When the hospital had called they hadn't said how he was, apparently they can only tell you when you get there, so she was spending the entire journey wondering whether they'd called because he'd died or because he'd woken up.

"Eric," Calleigh started, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's just that if he dies and you go to prison, I don't know what I'd do, you'd have lost everything and it'd all have been my fault."

"Calleigh you didn't make me do what I did, I did that all by myself and I'm not sorry I did it, he hurt you, he thought that was ok, I couldn't let he get away with that. If he is dead, then I should go to prison, that's what we go isn't it, put murderers behind bars, make sure they can't hurt anyone else."

"Eric, you're not like that, you were provoked, you're not dangerous, I won't let you go to prison, I can't…" tears began streaming down her face and he held her hand she just turned to stare out of the window, he'd seen her cry too many times recently, she tried to blink the tears away, but it wasn't happening. He undid his seatbelt and slid across to sit next to her, using his hand to turn her face toward him he gently wiped away her tears before kissing her lightly on the lips.

"It'll be ok…I promise," he said hugging her as the cab pulled up outside the hospital. Eric paid the driver as Calleigh climbed out and began walking toward the entrance. Eric caught up with her and took hold of her hand as they both made their way to the main desk. After finding out where about her dad was they made the way up the stairs to his room, Calleigh walked in opening the door to find her mom sitting there holding her dads hand.

"Calleigh, you came."

"Of course I did mom, how is he?" she asked.

"He woke up before but now he's gone back to sleep, the doctors say he should be ok, he has a broken nose and arm but other than that it's just cuts and bruises."

Eric immediately felt guilty, he'd done this to this man, he was the reason he was laying here unconscious in this hospital bed, this was his fault, and he was disgusted with himself. Then he thought about all of the things this man had done, this eased his conscious slightly but he realised Calleigh was right when she said she didn't know who he was anymore. He didn't know who he was anymore, he would never have thought he was capable of this, although he knew he'd never hurt Calleigh, could he really be sure one day he wouldn't just flip like he had done earlier. He didn't want to think about it.

"Calleigh I…." her mom began, "what you said in the house, I was listening."

"Mom, it doesn't matter," Calleigh replied.

"Yes it does, he hurt you, the things he did, I should have stopped him, you were my daughter and I did nothing."

"Its ok mom, it was a long time ago."

"No it's not ok, I knew he hit you, I used to see him do it and you're right I was too drunk to care, I saw you unconscious and I did nothing, I saw the bruises you hid so well, but he was my husband, I loved him, if I'd have left him I'd have had nothing."

Eric thought this excuse was particularly pathetic, her daughter was being beaten by her husband and she didn't think to try and stop it.

"Calleigh, I'm sorry, I really am," her mom continued, "I used to see your brothers, sitting next to you when he'd knocked you out, I thought they'd look after you, make sure you were ok, you kids always looked out for each other."

"We had too," Calleigh replied, knowing that if they hadn't looked out for each other then nobody else would have looked out for them.

"I am sorry Calleigh, but the other things you said about Jack and their friends, are they true?"

"Yes," Calleigh answered, not believing that her mom actually thought she may have made that up or something.

"I didn't know, honestly Calleigh I didn't, I'm sorry, I would've stopped it, if I had known."

Eric thought this woman was unbelievable, she thought it was ok for her husband to beat her daughter until she was unconscious, but rape was completely wrong, surely all of it had been wrong, the beatings just as bad as the rape, if she could've have stopped one she should have stopped it all.

"No you wouldn't," Calleigh replied, her mom would not have done anything, she never had.

"I would have Calleigh, if you had told me."

"When was I supposed to tell you, you were always too drunk to care," Calleigh vented, she regretted it immediately, she didn't want to argue with her mother, she really didn't, she was too tired of arguing, "It doesn't matter now anyway," she concluded trying to bring an end to this conversation.

"Calleigh, I really am sorry, but I needed to live, I needed money I didn't have any and I didn't have a job, what was I supposed to do, get you all out of there so we could live on the streets!"

"I needed to live too mom, I never got the chance, that was taken from me, he stole it, I spent my entire life being terrified of him, I never got to be a kid, do the things kids are supposed to do, I never played out, I never had any friends. The money you so desperately needed, where do you think he got that from?" she figured her mom really hadn't thought about this, "he sold me mom, you and he drank all that money whilst me and the boys lived on beans on toast in a freezing cold house because we couldn't afford to pay the bills, yet all the money came from what they did to me."

"Well like you said it doesn't matter anymore," Calleigh's mom didn't want to have to explain herself, she had her reasons and that was all she cared about, "besides, you've done ok for yourself, a good job and a gorgeous boyfriend, what more could a girl want, you should be happy."

"I am… I was until came back here," Calleigh began before being interrupted as the door opened and two police officers walked in. One was much taller than the other but both had short brown hair, the taller man began to speak.

"Um…Eric Delko."

"Yes," Eric replied, looking at the man.

"We're arresting you for assault, would you stand up with your hands behind your back please."

Eric did as instructed and Calleigh could only watch as the two men cuffed Eric before escorting him from the building.

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Ok so there you go, I'm sorry if that makes no sense I'm half asleep but anyway, please read and review, I like to know what you think! 


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks for all the reviews I really appreciate them! I am soooooo sooooooo annoyed I just wrote this chapter once and my stupid stupid stupid computer managed to delete it all by it's stupid self, so this is as much the same as I can remember but I'm not sure it's as good, but don't blame me, blame my stupid useless laptop! Sorry, I'm just really really annoyed as you can probably tell. But do you know what is weird, when I was writing I decided to take a break half way through and when I did word count there was exactly 666 words, then after I've written more it deletes itself, how weird is that? But 666 was always lucky for me I don't understand it, it was even the day I passed my driving test (06/06/06)! Anyway here you go…

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Calleigh decided it would probably be best if she stayed with her mom for a while, she wanted to go and see Eric, but she knew they probably wouldn't let her see him just yet if at all. They'd wait until they'd interviewed him, and they'd make him sweat it out a bit before they did that, so she figured she'd just stay here.

Calleigh's mum hadn't said anything since Eric had left, which was fine with Calleigh she didn't feel much like talking either, she didn't have anything to say to her, she couldn't forgive her for letting her go through all of that on her own when she was just a kid and she knew she'd never be able to, so there was no point trying.

"He shouldn't have done what he did," Calleigh's mom finally said quietly.

"Who?" Calleigh asked, as far as she was concerned both her dad and Eric had been wrong.

"That boyfriend of yours…what's his name…."

"Eric."

"Yeah him, what right did he think he had to go around beating your dad up like that?"

"It wasn't like that mom, he was trying to protect me."

"From what? Your dad didn't even do anything this time!"

"Eric just heard what we were arguing about and wanted to make sure dad could never hurt me like he had done in the past, he wanted to make sure I was safe, and he wanted me to know that he'd never let anybody hurt me again." Calleigh tried to explain, she knew it was useless, her mom would never understand how she and Eric felt about each other.

"I am sorry Calleigh, I swear I didn't know what was going on, I would've stopped it!"

"You did know, you lived in that house with us, you just didn't want to believe what was going on so you drunk until you could pretend it wasn't actually happening, some of us didn't have that luxury mom, we had to live through it. Do you know how scary that was? I was ten years old the first time he raped me"

"Ok, I admit I knew he hit you, but not……not those other things you say he did."

"He raped me mom, raped me, say it!"

"No, I can't, he wouldn't….he just wouldn't!"

"He did, night after night, he used to come out of your bedroom at night and into mine and you're telling me you had no idea what was going on!"

"I didn't, I swear I didn't! You have to believe me!"

"No I don't! I don't have to believe anything you say!" Calleigh had heard enough, she stood up and stormed out of the room, she hated her mom, she had just stood by while she had gone through hell and pretended she didn't see any of it, pretended she lived in some perfect little world where everybody loved each other and was happy.

Calleigh jumped into the first cab she saw after leaving the hospital, she wanted to go and see Eric, make sure he was ok, make sure he knew she was on his side. After telling the cab driver where to go she sat silently in the back of the taxi trying to figure out where it had all gone wrong. She was only supposed to have come here in order to sort out the funeral and now her dad was in hospital and her boyfriend was in prison.

When the car stopped she paid the driver before walking into the building and asking the guy on the front desk to speak with the person in charge of the investigation against Eric. She was told to take a seat, which she did, and after a few minutes and man appeared dressed in a grey suit and asked her to follow him.

"I'm Detective Collins, I'm in charge of the investigation into the assault of Mr Robinson, I understand you are his daughter." He asked politely.

"Yes, Calleigh Duquesne," she replied shaking his hand.

"Ok Mrs Duquesne, I understand that Mr Delko is your boyfriend."

"It's Miss and yes he's my boyfriend," she replied, "may I see him?"

"Normally I would say no, but he hasn't said anything since he got here, maybe it would be best if you could try and get him to speak to us about what happened, it really would be in his best interest."

"He hasn't said anything!" Calleigh said, surprised.

"Not a word, he hasn't even asked for a lawyer, would you like to follow me please." Calleigh followed the man through several doors and down corridors until she reached the cell in which they were holding Eric, the man opened the door allowing her in before closing it behind her.

Calleigh walked over to where Eric was sat and sat down next to him.

"Hey," she said turning to face him.

"Hey," he replied not moving from his current position staring at the floor.

"They said you haven't said anything, why not?" Calleigh asked, still amazed that he hadn't explained why he had done what he did.

"It's none of their business," he replied still staring at the floor.

"Eric, you know it doesn't work like that, they know you did it, if you cooperate they'll go easy on you," he slowly looked up at her.

"If I tell them, then I'll have to tell them what he did to you," he said returning his gaze to the floor.

"Yes," she replied, not sure where he was going, "so?"

"It's not my right to tell them, you should only tell who you feel comfortable telling and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't tell all of the people in this building, besides half of them probably worked with him, they wouldn't believe me."

"I know that feeling," Calleigh smiled weakly, and he looked up at her, "you have to tell them Eric, I don't care who knows, if it helps you get out of here."

"But…"

"No buts Eric, promise me you'll tell them, if they don't believe you, they can come and ask me, I'll be sat outside, but Eric you have to explain why you did what you did."

"Your dad hasn't woken up yet, he might not even press charges against me, how about I'll tell them if he does press charges?"

"Eric, he will ok? Even if it's just to get back at me, you have to tell them and you have to do it now."

"Ok," he said knowing better than to argue with her.

"I love you," she said standing up and walking to the door and knocking on it.

"I love you too," he replied watching as the door was opened and she left the room.

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TBC…

Ok, there you go, I know it was a little boring, I promise you the original was better but it's 1am and I'm at work in 7 hours and must go to sleep! It will get more exciting I promise! Thanks for reading and please review, they're what keep me writing, I really really appreciate them!


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for all of your reviews, I appreciate them so much! Here's chapter 13, I'm not sure if it makes sense but thought I'd post it anyway!

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Eric watched as the door swung closed behind Calleigh, he thought about what she had said, he knew he should tell them everything. He should tell them what he had done and explain why he had done it, he was a cop, he'd had enough experience of trying to get people to talk and becoming frustrated when they wouldn't, even when he knew they were guilty, now he was becoming one of those people. He didn't know if he could explain why he had done it, where would he start? What would he say? How could he explain something as awful as that? Why would anyone believe him? He thought about what Calleigh must have felt when trapped in that hell hole, he was scared no one would believe him now, yet there was evidence, Calleigh would back him up and the worst thing that could happen was they didn't believe him and he went to prison. It must have been so much worse for Calleigh, if nobody believed her, they'd accuse her of lying, she was just a child and although her brothers were witnesses to some of it, it was like she had said, her dad was the sheriff, highly respected, why would they believe her and if her dad found out then her punishment would have been brutal if what he had seen had been the usual.

He had just managed to convince himself to talk when the door to his cell swung open and detective Collins was stood there.

"Follow me please," was all he said before leading the way to a nearby interview room. Eric followed him in and sat down where instructed, watching detective Collins sit down on the opposite side of the table.

"Did you or did you not attack Mr Robinson at his home earlier this afternoon?" the detective asked.

"Yes I did," Eric replied simply. The detective was glad this man was finally deciding to speak and figured that whatever his girlfriend had said to him seemed to have done the trick.

"Why did you do that?"

"I had to, the things he did, he deserved it!"

"Would you like to elaborate? As I can inform you that Mr Robinson has since woken up and insists that he did not provoke you in any way."

"No you don't understand…when Calleigh was a kid he did things to her, he abused her!"

"You mean Miss Duquesne, his daughter."

"Yes, he used to drink and then go home and beat her up," Eric didn't know whether to explain everything else, this guy didn't seem like he'd understand anyway, but he remembered he'd promised Calleigh and so decided to tell them the rest, "he used to….he used to rape her."

"Those are very serious allegations Mr Delko, but I can assure you that no police report was ever filed against him, do you have any evidence to back up these statements? And if this was so long ago, why did you feel the need to attack him today?"

"I only found out two days ago, and Calleigh and her dad were arguing and her dad seemed to think there was nothing wrong with what he had done, I had to show him he couldn't get away with things like that. If you need evidence go and talk to Calleigh, she'll tell you, she still has scars from where he hit her."

"Even if this is the case Mr Delko, I'm afraid taking the law into your own hands in this way is illegal, you can't go around beating people up just because you don't like what they've done, if you wanted something done about this it should have been reported to the police and it would have been dealt with properly."

"But….but you don't understand, the things he was saying, I just lost it, I couldn't help it, how could he do those things to her? She was just a child; I had to make sure he couldn't hurt her any more."

"Ok Mr Delko, we will be referring this to the DA and let him decide what to do about it although I'm sure that you will be charged with assault," the man turned and looked at an officer stood at the door, "take him away," the officer walked over to Eric and he stood up and was led back to his cell.

* * *

Calleigh had been shown back to a waiting room, where she had sat and waited for what seemed like a lifetime. She was so angry, with everyone, her dad for what he did in the first place, her mom for not stopping it and Eric for hitting her dad and making it so that she wasn't currently sitting on a plane on the way back to Miami as had originally been intended.

Suddenly, the door opened and Detective Collins walked in.

"Would you like to follow me please, we have a few questions we would like to ask regarding the events that took place this afternoon."

Calleigh stood up and followed the man into the interview room and she sat down on the side of the table facing the door. After asking her if she would like a drink Collins sat down opposite her.

"Would you like to tell me what happened earlier today?"

"Eric, he… um … he attacked my dad."

"Do you know why he did this?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to share it with me?"

Not really, Calleigh thought, but figured that that would probably not be the best answer.

"Um…he found out some things about my dad that he didn't like."

"Could you elaborate please?"

"My dad…when…I was little he used to hit me, he was drunk," Calleigh couldn't believe she was using the fact her father had been drunk as if that excused his behaviour, actually, she couldn't believe she was trying to excuse his behaviour at all.

"And Mr Delko found out about this."

"Yes I told him, we only got here a few days ago for my brothers funeral, he wanted to know why me and my dad didn't get on, so I explained."

"You explained that he used to hit you when you were a child?"

"Yes, he also…he used to…he…um…he…he…raped me." Calleigh realised Eric had been right, she didn't want to tell this man everything she had been through, it had been hard telling Eric, but she knew he'd believe her, this man didn't seem willing to even listen to a word she said, let alone believe it.

"Why did you never report this?"

"I was just a kid, I was scared of him, he was the county sheriff, who could I tell?"

"Even if this is why Mr Delko attacked your father, I'm sure you understand that for him to take matters into his own hands in this way is still illegal. You know I have no choice but to have him charged with assault."

Calleigh had an idea.

"I want to report the abuse I suffered at the hands of my father," she said as the man was about to get out of his chair.

"I can look into that, but I need evidence, this happened when you were a child, do you have any proof?"

Calleigh yanked up the front of her top, displaying her scars, Collins was slightly taken aback when he saw them, there were so many, all over her skin.

"He did this, there are also photos and videos, I don't know where they are but they must be somewhere."

"Ok, I will go and get another officer and we will take your statement in a few more minutes, you do understand that this will not affect the charges that are being brought against Mr Delko?"

It just might, Calleigh thought, but just nodded as the man looked at her, she hated that look...pity, he felt sorry for her. He left the room and Calleigh began to formulate her plan.

* * *

I know this chapter was a bit dodgy, but I thought I'd post it anyway. I promise it will get more exciting if and when Calleigh does return to Miami, this could come back to haunt her! I'm really tired it's 2am, I really need to start writing chapters earlier in the day, maybe then they'd make sense and I'd not be late for work so much! Please let me know what you like it's your reviews that keeps me writing! 


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry I took so long to update, I had my first exam today, plus I was still figuring what where to go with this, I have a plan for when Calleigh gets back to Miami, but just need to get her there first! Anyway I'll shut up, here's chapter 14, please read and let me know what you think!

* * *

Calleigh had spent two hours in the police station giving her statement to two police officers, they'd been nice, but she hated the way the treated her, like a victim, she'd spent her entire life trying to prove to everybody that she wasn't a victim, that was part of the reason she'd never told anybody. It had been so hard telling these complete strangers what had happened, she had thought that it had been hard to tell Eric, but that was a walk in the park compared to this. They kept asking her the same questions over and over again, she knew if she'd been in their position, she'd have done the same, but it still annoyed her. She just kept thinking, she was doing this for Eric, this would help Eric, she wasn't entirely sure it would work, but she couldn't think of any other way. Eventually, they had let her out, telling her that they would look into it, they had said that they would speak to her brothers and her mom, and that they would search the house for any videos or photos. Calleigh knew they wouldn't find any photos, before she'd left for Tulane she had looked for them; she wanted to destroy them, make sure nobody ever found them; she never wanted to think about her past again, let alone let anyone find out about it. But as she had looked she had never found them, her dad had either hidden them very well, or sold them all.

As she walked out of the station she realised how late it was, it was dark and there were few people about. She didn't know what to do now, she didn't want to see her dad, or her brothers, and she knew they wouldn't let her see Eric, so she figured she'd just head back to the hotel and try to get a decent nights sleep, tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

When she arrived back in the room, she got undressed as quickly as possible and collapsed straight into bed, she was exhausted, it had been such a long day, it was just this morning that Eric had woken her up after she slept in but it felt like a lifetime ago, so much had happened. She lay in bed thinking about the day's events she wanted to be back in Miami so much, she just wanted to wake up in Eric's arms and find that this had all just been a nightmare.

The bed felt so empty without Eric, she'd only shared a bed with him since they had been in Darnell but it already felt so natural and to be without him made her feel uneasy. When she was with him, she knew he'd protect her, she knew nothing bad would happen, but now she just felt lonely, she rolled over and tried to sleep, but her mind just wouldn't stop racing with what ifs and if only. Eventually her body needed sleep and claimed her.

* * *

Calleigh awoke with a start, someone was banging on the door to her room.

"I'm coming," she said, climbing out of bed and trying to find her dressing gown, after putting it on, she looked at the clock, it was 12 noon, how had she slept for so long? She walked over to the door and opened it slowly, peering around to see who it was.

Mike was stood there.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Um..sure, is everything ok?"

"The police came around this morning, you've reported dad," Mike replied walking in and sitting on a chair next to the dresser, she moved and sat down on the unmade bed.

"Yeah," she replied, what did he want her to say?

"They came around and searched the house, what were they looking for?"

"I don't know," she lied, if he didn't know about the pictures, she didn't want to tell him, he'd seen enough.

"Well, you must have told them something otherwise, they wouldn't have searched it, it was so long ago what were they expecting to find?"

"Did they question you?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes, they asked me what I saw, and if he hit me or the others, they wanted to know about dad's friends, why did they want to know that?"

"I don't know," she lied again, "they're probably just following lines of enquiry or something."

"I don't believe you."

"What do you want me to say?"

"How about the truth, Calleigh, what are they looking for?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," he replied, he wanted an answer, why would she lie, he was there he was sure he'd seen everything, what more could there be? "what were they looking for?" he repeated.

"Just some pictures."

"Of what?"

"Me."

"Pictures of you, what kind of pictures?"

"Just pictures of me and some guys, look, this really isn't important, can we please drop it?" she begged.

"Pictures……of you, with guys….. please tell me he didn't," Mike could see where this was going and he didn't like it, the thought of what they must've done to her made he want to be sick.

"Mike, drop it, please."

"Calleigh, I'm so so sorry, I really am, I had no idea, when? How? I would have noticed."

"Mike you have nothing to be sorry for, he was good at getting me alone when you were at school or asleep, it's not your fault, now can we please drop it?"

"Ok."

"I take it they didn't find anything."

"No, they asked me and Dave some questions and then they left, they said they were going to speak to mom and dad."

"Ok, I need to go o the hospital, they'll have spoken to them by now, can you drive me there?" she asked him, she still couldn't believe she'd slept in as late as she had.

"Sure," he replied, "I'll be in the car."

Calleigh began hurrying around trying to get ready, she thought about Eric, hopefully last night was the last night he would have to spend in a police cell, she needed to get him out of there today.

When Mike pulled up at the hospital, she sat still for a minute, Mike looked over at her.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked, if dad had been mad before, what would he be like now he knew Calleigh had reported him.

"I have to do this, it'll help Eric."

"Is he the only reason you're doing this? How is this going to help anyway, this just means that dad will be with Eric in prison." Mike still wasn't convinced about Eric, Calleigh appeared to really love him, but after what he'd done to their dad, not that he hadn't deserved it, how could she be sure he wasn't like dad and that someday he wouldn't do something like that to her?

"I have to try something and maybe this will work," she replied.

"I don't see how," he replied, as they both got out of the car and made their way to the room which held their dad.

As she walked in she saw her dad lying there, he stared at her, his eyes, he hated her, she was glad.

"Calleigh, you bitch! How could you go and tell the police those lies! The things you said I did! You Bitch!" he yelled at her.

"Dad, I didn't lie I told them the truth."

"No you didn't, besides, there's no way they have enough evidence to prove it, there were no witnesses, well none that would speak against me," he smiled at the thought.

"Look dad, they'll find the evidence….unless.."

"Unless what?"

"You drop the charges against Eric."

"No way!"

"Then I'll make sure they find the evidence to send you to prison for a very long time."

"There is no evidence, I made sure of it!"

"What about the pictures dad, I think they count as evidence, they found them," She lied, she wanted to see his reaction, was it possible that they could've found them, or were they not there at all.

"No they can't have," he replied, but Calleigh noticed the slightest of hesitation, he was scared.

"They did, and they will charge you, drop the charges against Eric, and I will withdraw my statement against you, think about it I'll be back in a minute." She said before leaving the room to get some air, she really hoped he went for this otherwise, she couldn't think of anyway to get Eric out of this.

As she left the room she bumped into Detective Collins.

"Miss Duquesne, can I have a word?" he said stepping to the side.

"Sure."

"I'm afraid we don't have enough evidence to proceed with a case against your father."

* * *

What is Calleigh going to do now? I know that wasn't really a cliff hanger but wanted to leave you dangling a little bit! So thank you for reading and please review! 


	15. Chapter 15

Thanks for all of the reviews! Here's chapter 15…

* * *

Calleigh wasn't really surprised, she knew how hard it was normally to find evidences in cases like this, but this had been years ago, the chances of them finding enough evidence to convict her father were slim, but she'd had to try.

"I am sorry," the detective continued, "but there is no physical evidence to prove that it was your dad that hurt you." He really was sorry, he believed her, there was just something about her, he didn't know what, a sincerity maybe, she wasn't lying, he hated the justice system at a time like this, her boyfriend was probably going to prison, his only crime protecting his girlfriend, and her dad was going to get away with what he had done, which was so much worse. He'd done some research on her dad, he had been in charge around here, years ago, before his time, but he still had a reputation, he had been very strict, especially with who he called 'trouble makers', basically, anyone who wasn't the same colour as him, but at the time there was no IAB. He'd heard he was a drunk too, but nobody said anything to him, even when he was drunk at work, after all he was in charge. The detective was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and Miss Duquesne began to speak.

"I understand," she said slowly, "would you do me a favour?"

"What?" he asked.

"Would you not tell my dad just yet? I need him to sweat it out a bit, please?"

Normally he would have refused, it was a little unethical, but he figured that the guy deserved to be made to sweat, for a little while at least.

"I suppose I could do that," he said nodding at her, "I'll come back later and maybe tell him then."

"Thank you," she said before turning around and walking back into her dad's room.

As the door opened, everybody turned around to see who it was, her dad was first to speak.

"I saw you talking to that stupid cop, what did he want?"

Calleigh was amazed he'd seen her talk to him, but then the door did have a window and it was possible.

"Um, they've got enough evidence to arrest you, he's just waiting for the warrant to come through," she lied, " then they'll come and arrest you, now's your chance dad, I can make all of this go away, you just have to make one phone call and sign a bit of paper."

"You're bluffing!" he retorted.

"Ok, try me? Let's see if he comes back and arrests you in few hours, why else would he come here to speak with you?" she asked him, hoping he didn't think of the real reason.

Her dad remained quiet for a few seconds, what if she was telling the truth? They'd arrest him, they'd put him in prison, he knew what they did to people like him in jail, he didn't want to go through that.

"Ok, I'll drop the charges," he said quietly.

She got her phone and dialled the number of the police station before handing him the phone, she watched as he spoke to the person on the other end of the phone and dropped the charges against Eric, as soon as he had finished, he handed her the phone, she could tell he was angry. She was so happy for once in her life she had actually won against her father, she was hurting him and although she wasn't usually one for revenge, it felt so good to be the one in control. She turned and left the room, and made her way out of the hospital, she knew exactly where she was heading and jumped in the first cab she saw and told the driver where to go.

* * *

When she reached the police station she paid the driver and got out of the cab, and walked into the building and asked the guy on the desk if Eric had been released yet, the officer in turn told her that, detective Collins was speaking to him at the moment and that he should be released any moment now.

Calleigh took a seat in the reception area, there was nothing she wanted to do more than get Eric and go back to Miami and forget any of this had ever happened. After about 10 minutes the door opened, she looked up to see Eric standing there, she had never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life, she ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him so tightly, he was sure if she didn't stop soon, he wouldn't be able to breath.

"Ok Calleigh, you can stop that now, I am actually here, although I won't be if you keep squeezing like that!" he joked, she pulled away and he noticed a single tear slide down her cheek, he lifted his had up and wiped it away, "hey, what's all this?"

"Nothing, I'm just so happy to see you!" she hugged him again, eventually he managed to prize her away from him and they both walked outside and waited for a cab.

* * *

When they arrived back at the hotel they went straight to their room, Calleigh was on the phone, trying to get tickets for the next flight to Miami, he understood, she didn't want to stay here a moment longer than she had to. He walked around the room and began packing their stuff into their suitcases, he had to admit, he didn't much like this place either. Eventually Calleigh got off the phone.

"We're booked on a flight at 10am tomorrow, it was the first one they had available," she explained.

"Ok," he replied, "are you hungry?"

"A little," she admitted, "do you want to go out, or order room service?" she asked him.

"I don't mind," he replied walking over and kissing her lightly on the lips, "you choose."

"No," she said, "you've just spent a night in a jail cell, you get to choose."

"Ok then, room service," he decided, picking up the phone in the room and ordering them both something to eat. After replacing the phone he sat down on the bed next to Calleigh.

"How did you get me out of there?" he asked, the detective just told him that all charges had been dropped and that he was free to go, but Eric knew there was more too it.

"I um… I reported my dad for what he did, after I spoke to you I went to the detective and made a statement."

"I'm sorry Calleigh," Eric said.

"What for?" she replied, turning to look at him.

"It must have been horrible for you, having to go over it all again with them, if I hadn't hurt your dad in the first place, you wouldn't have had to do that."

"It doesn't matter," she said, before continuing, "then I went to my dad and told him if he didn't drop the charges against you then he would be going to jail himself, he dropped the charges."

"I'm sorry," Eric said again.

"What for now?"

"Now there's no way you can have your dad charged with what he did to you, and it's my fault."

"Don't worry about it Eric, there wasn't enough evidence to even arrest him anyway."

"Oh, I take it your dad doesn't know that yet."

"Well, he didn't when he dropped the charges, I'm guessing he probably does now," she smiled at the thought.

There was a knock at the door, their food had arrived, they both sat in a comfortable silence whilst they were eating, after they had finished, they both decided they were tired and began to get ready for bed.

After about 15 minutes they were both curled up in bed together, Calleigh was on her side and Eric was behind her, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her body closer to him.

"I love you so much Calleigh Duquesne," he said, thinking she was already asleep.

"I love you too," she mumbled, half asleep and Eric fought hard to stay awake, he loved just watching her sleep, she looked so beautiful, so peaceful, but soon, he was so tired he finally fell asleep.

* * *

TBC……..

So Eric is ok, but don't go thinking this is over just yet, I have so much more in store for them yet! I just thought I'd be nice to you for the moment! Please read and review!


	16. Chapter 16

Thanks for all of your reviews! I know this has taken some time, I'm in the middle of my exams at the moment, they finish in 11 days, and then I will update so much more, if it's not finished by then! So here you go, chapter 16…….

* * *

The next day they had both woken up early and headed straight for the airport, they both just wanted to get home, they wanted to forget about Louisiana, and just get on with their lives. Calleigh had said that she would ring her brothers when she got home, and speak to them then, after all it was her wanting to say goodbye to them that had got them in trouble in the first place. They were now both sitting on the plane in a comfortable silence each lost in their own thoughts.

Calleigh was just so excited to get back home, and Miami was her home, she may have been brought up in Darnell, but she would never regard that place as home. She just wanted to live her life, she knew that with Eric by her side she would always be happy, she loved him so much it hurt, she had never thought it was possible for her to love someone like this, she was always too scared of getting hurt, of letting someone into her heart for them then to go and break it and she knew she wouldn't be able to cope with that.

Eric just stared at Calleigh, he had been staring at her nearly the entire time they had been on the plane, she hadn't noticed, he thought she was so beautiful, he loved her so much, he knew this was unlike him, he never fell in love. He dated girls, but it was always about sex, the girls annoyed him, always competing to be the prettiest, he never really cared about them, yes they looked nice, and were fun to sleep with, but other than that they just irritated him. Calleigh was so different, yes she was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but she was intelligent, and sensitive, she didn't play games, just told it how it was and that was that. He found it ironic, that all of his other girlfriends he'd just used for sex, and with Calleigh, that was one thing they hadn't done and yet he had fallen head over heels in love with her. In the last few days he'd found out so much about her, things he was sure she had never told anybody about, and nobody would ever have guessed. It explained a lot of why Calleigh was the way she was, she was strong and could look out for herself, she never let anybody in, she had walls surrounding her heart to make sure that nobody could break it, she had let him in, he felt privileged, and knew he would never let himself break her heart.

They were both brought back from their thoughts as the plane landed and came to a stop, they both made their way off the plane and collected their luggage before leaving the airport and jumping in a cab.

"Where do you want to go?" Eric asked Calleigh.

"Do you think we should drop by the lab, let them know we're back?" Calleigh replied.

"Ok," Eric answered before telling the cab driver where to go.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Calleigh spoke.

"I'm glad to be home."

"Me too."

"Eric," Calleigh started, "you won't tell anybody at the lab about everything, will you?"

"No, of course not," Eric squeezed her hand before leaning over to kiss her lightly on the lips, "it's not my business to tell."

"Thanks Eric," she replied smiling at him.

The cab stopped and they both got out and walked into the building, they walked toward the break room, both needing coffee, it had been a long day and they needed something to keep them awake.

"You're back!" Horatio said as he walked into the break room, "Actually I need to have a word with you."

"Oh," Calleigh and Eric both said, looking at Horatio.

"Yes Eric, I heard that you were arrested for assault whilst you were away," Horatio said.

Calleigh and Eric both stood there looking at him, how could he have found that out so quickly, it had only been a couple of days ago and in an entirely different state.

"Yes, I was but the charges were dropped," Eric explained.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Horatio asked, wondering what had caused this young man who was usually so in control to lose it like that, "I understand it was Calleigh's father you attacked," he finished looking at Calleigh, who just looked at the floor.

"It was just a misunderstanding," Eric said, he'd promised Calleigh he wouldn't tell anybody, and he had no intention of breaking that promise to her.

"A misunderstanding," Horatio repeated, looking at them both.

"Yes," was all Eric said.

Horatio knew there had to be more to it, but he could see from the looks on both of their faces that neither was likely to explain what had happened so decided to drop it.

"So do you need us to help out now that we're back?" Calleigh asked, trying to change the subject.

"Actually, we could use a hand, a 12 year old girl was abducted from the park 6 hours ago, I know you still have two days of your vacation left, but I would really appreciate it if you could help," Horatio explained.

"Of course," Calleigh said, "what have we got so far?"

"Well the girls name is Laura Hanson, she was with some friends in the park when she decided to go home, she was last seen walking towards the exit of the park, she only lives around the corner, but never made it home. We have just received some information about a man whoa had been hanging around the park watching girls, but it appears he had been out of state for the past few days, we called the hotel and he is definitely there. We think it may be one of his friends who has taken her, so would you two be ok going through this mans contacts, we don't have a current address for him, but we do have an e-mail address so could you two look through his e-mails and see if there is anything out of the ordinary and to see if you can find his address."

"Um, yeah sure," Calleigh said.

"Ok, here you go," Horatio said, handing some papers to Calleigh, "the guys name is Jack Halford," Horatio finished before leaving the room.

After Horatio had left, Calleigh just stood there, she was sure she hadn't heard that name correctly, she couldn't have.

"Calleigh," Eric asked, noticing she was spaced out, "are you ok?" Eric was worried, this was hardly the best case for them to get involved in straight away, the abduction of a 12 year old.

"No," Calleigh took a deep breath, "Jack Halford, is…is the guy my dad was best friends with, the one who……." Calleigh stopped, Eric realised who she meant.

* * *

Ok, I know this was a little slow to start with and then went very fast, but the next chapter will be more exciting, maybe a little more evil too! Thanks for reading this so far, if you read it please review it, it doesn't take long and I really appreciate them, they make me happy! Thank you! 


	17. Chapter 17

Thank you so much for all the reviews! They make me soooo happy! So as a present I updated really quickly! (actually it got me out of revising! Anyway…) Here's chapter 17, I hope you enjoy it, I think this may begin to get exciting…

* * *

Eric was still processing what he had just heard, this couldn't be happening, they had left this in Darnell, now it had followed them here. When he woke up this morning, they were escaping and continuing their lives together, they could forget about everything from Calleigh's past, but now it was here right in front of them and he didn't know what to do.

"You have to tell Horatio," Eric said, he knew she wouldn't want to but if this was the guy then Calleigh couldn't work the case, if she did and it went to court, it'd be ripped to pieces and neither of them wanted that.

"Eric," Calleigh began,"I can't, and besides, it might not even be the same guy, there are probably lots of people called Jack Halford in this country."

"Maybe, but Calleigh you have to tell him, I don't think all of the people with that name would go around doing this to young girls, Calleigh please tell him."

"Let's wait and see if it's him, if it is then I'll tell him and remove myself from the case, please Eric I have to do this."

"Ok, but as soon as we know it is him, you tell Horatio, if you don't I will," Eric felt slightly guilty saying this after all, he had promised not to tell anyone in Miami what had happened in Louisiana, but he hadn't expected this to happen.

"Thanks," Calleigh said hugging him quickly before walking into the lab. Eric followed her and they sat down at a computer.

After about 10 minutes they had managed to hack into Jack's email account, they were reading each email individually, there were hundreds it was going to take a while, but so far they had found nothing incriminating and nothing that was likely to lead them to where he was.

* * *

Horatio was with Ryan, they were interviewing all of the witnesses from the park and the surrounding area, none of them seemed to have seen anything and no two people who thought they may have seen a man had him looking the same or even walking in the same direction. They had nothing. Horatio was getting irritated, they were going round in circles, this was why he liked evidence, it pointed in a direction and they followed it and caught a criminal, witnesses were unreliable.

After hours of interviews, Horatio finally gave up interviewing and decided to speak with the girl's friends again, if anyone knew anything it was them, there must have been a reason for her leaving them, maybe she mentioned the fact that she was going to meet someone or maybe she wanted to run away, if anybody knew, it'd be her best friend Katie. Horatio saw Katie sitting on a bench outside the lab and went over and sat down next to her.

"Katie," Horatio said, looking at the little girl.

"Hi," she replied, her voice was sad and Horatio noticed she had been crying.

"Katie, did Laura mention anything to you about where she was going after she left you in the park earlier?"

"No, she just said she was bored and that she wanted to go home," Katie answered, her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Did Laura mention any new friends, maybe someone you have never met before?"

"No."

"Did Laura use the internet?"

"Sometimes."

"Do you know if she ever went into chat rooms, or spoke with people she didn't know?"

"I don't think so, can I go home now?" she said, pointing towards the car that had just pulled up with her parents inside.

"Of course you can," Horatio replied, helping her down off the bench, "and thank you."

As Katie turned to walk away she turned around and looked at Horatio, "You will find her won't you?" she asked.

"Yes we will find her, I promise," Horatio said as the little girl turned and walked towards the car.

* * *

Calleigh and Eric had been reading emails for over 2 hours and were beginning to feel like it was a dead end, none of them had anything illegal, in fact most of it was junk, but they had sifted through it all in order to make sure there really was nothing that would help them find the little girl.

Calleigh picked up a photo of the girl, she knew that the man that had taken her was the same guy that had hurt her all those years ago, she didn't say anything to Eric, she knew he'd make her tell Horatio. The girl in the photo looked so young, she had blond hair, it was shorter than Calleigh's, but the same colour, she also had the same green eyes, she needed to find her, she knew if anything happened to her she'd never forgive herself.

"This isn't your fault," Eric said when he saw her looking at the picture, he knew she felt guilty, but there was nothing for her to feel guilty about, she had done nothing wrong. They didn't even know this was the same guy, and even if it was, it wasn't like Calleigh could have done anything to stop this from happening, she had just been a child herself when this had happened to her.

"Maybe it is," Calleigh replied, "if I had reported him years ago, he'd be locked up now, he wouldn't be able to hurt little girls."

"This is NOT your fault," Eric repeated, "Calleigh, we know Jack doesn't have her, he had an alibi, somebody else has taken her, and there is no way you could have stopped that."

"Ok, so it's not him, but what it was another of their friends, I could have stopped them all if I hadn't been so stupid, but no, I was too scared and now this girl, she could be going through hell because of it."

"Calleigh you can't blame yourself, you are not stupid, you were a child, you were scared, and you had every right to be, besides you just tried to have your dad charged and they didn't have any evidence, so even if you had reported them, they may have gotten away with it anyway."

"At least I would have known that I tried," was all Calleigh could say.

Eric turned his attention back to what he was doing; he could tell there was no way he was going to convince her that this wasn't her fault so he gave up trying. He opened up the next email and began to read it.

"We've got it," he said staring at the screen, "we've got his address."

Calleigh turned and looked at the screen, it was an invoice for some electronic equipment, but on it was his address. Finally they had a break through, they could search his house, maybe they'd find the names of his friends, or some evidence he had been watching this girl.

"I'll call Horatio," Calleigh said opening her phone and dialling the number.

After a short phone call Calleigh hung up, and turned to Eric.

"Horatio and Ryan are on their way, we are to read the last of the emails before joining them at the house, Horatio is getting a warrant as we speak."

"Ok," Eric said, before trying to read the rest of the emails as fast as possible, there were only 11 left, it didn't take long and then he and Calleigh left the lab and jumped in the hummer and began to make their way over to Jack's address, little did they know that when they got there, discoveries were going to be made and secrets were going to be uncovered.

* * *

So there you go! Thank you so much for reading this! Please review and let me know what you think, I really appreciate all the feedback, so if you read it please review, it'd make me very very happy! I'll update as soon as possible! 


	18. Chapter 18

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 18, I found this kind of hard to write and I fear the next chapter will be harder, but anyway here you go….

* * *

Calleigh and Eric drove in silence most of the way, Calleigh was beginning to think maybe she should have told Horatio about what had happened to her, if he found out now, she knew he would be disappointed in her, and she didn't want that. They eventually pulled up at the address they had found for Jack, Horatio's hummer was already parked outside along with another patrol car.

"You ready?" Eric asked her as they both climbed out of the hummer and began walking up the drive.

"Always," she replied, hoping that somewhere in this house was the answer to where the little girl was, she had spent the entire journey imagining what she could be going through, and it broke her heart to know that this could be happening because of her, she'd never forgive herself, she was sure of that much.

They walked up to the front door and opened it to come face to face with Horatio.

"Hi," Calleigh said, smiling, "you got anything yet?"

"Not yet," Horatio replied, "but we're still searching, Ryan is upstairs, how about Calleigh, you and I take downstairs and Eric you check the outer perimeter before going upstairs to help Ryan."

"Sure," Calleigh and Eric both replied before starting to search their designated areas. Calleigh went to work in living room, checking everywhere, in drawers, under the couch, on tables, newspaper wracks, everywhere. Horatio started in the kitchen, determined to rip the places to shreds, they had to find this little girl and this was their biggest lead, if they didn't find anything here, they'd have very little to go on.

Eric had searched outside and was beginning to make his way in through the back door when he heard Ryan shout from upstairs.

"Hey H, you might want to come and see this, I've found something!"

Calleigh, Horatio and Eric all ran up the stairs, hoping that whatever he had found would lead them to who had taken the little girl. As they reached the top they saw Ryan standing in the doorway of one of the bedrooms and made their way over to him.

Ryan showed them what he was holding, some pictures of a little girl, who was unmistakeably Calleigh, half naked surrounded by men. In the other hand he had some videos with a picture of Calleigh on the front, entitled 'Little Miss Robinson', Horatio and Eric just stared at them, before turning their attention to Calleigh.

Calleigh's head was spinning, she couldn't believe this was happening, she knew these would show up someday, but did it really need to be now? She could feel Ryan, Eric and Horatio looking at her and felt like she couldn't breathe, it felt like the walls were closing in on her and she couldn't escape, she had to get out, she couldn't deal with this now, it was just too much, she turned and ran. She ran down the stairs and out of the front door, past the patrols and into the street, she didn't know where to go, she thought about taking the hummer but realised she didn't have to keys so she just carried on running. She felt like if she ran fast enough she could leave her body behind, leave all of this behind, and maybe then she would never have to deal with it. The logical part of her brain told her that was never going to happen and that she was going to have to go back to lab to face this at some point, but just not now, for now she just kept running.

Eric was still trying to comprehend what he was seeing, he couldn't, although he knew these had existed, part of him had hoped they didn't had hoped that they were just imaginary, it wasn't that he didn't believe Calleigh, it was just he hadn't wanted to believe what he was now being forced to believe. Ryan was also struggling with the concept, that girl looked so much like Calleigh, he was sure it was Calleigh, but the pictures, they were just so wrong, how could he not have known? How could he not have guessed? The pictures…she just looked so small, so hurt, how could they be Calleigh? He was sure his brain was playing tricks on him, this couldn't be right.

"Um….Ryan, can you bag those and take them down to the hummer," Horatio said, still amazed by what had just happened, "did you find anything else?

"Well there are more pictures and videos over there," he said pointing towards the dresser near the bed, "I'll start collecting them."

Eric turned and walked out of the room and down the stairs, he needed air, how could Horatio be acting so….so normally, this was not a normal situation. He'd seen those pictures, he was trying to erase the images from his head, although he had known this had happened, the images made it look so real and he couldn't bear to look at them. He felt somebody behind him, he hoped it might be Calleigh, he wanted to hold her, this must have been a shock for her, her past had just shown up without invitation and was now invading the rest of her life. Eric turned around and was slightly disappointed to find Horatio stood there.

"You knew about this, didn't you Eric?" Horatio said, not turning his gaze from Eric, Eric seemed the least shocked, even less so than Calleigh, he was more disgusted, he had every right to be, but Horatio was sure he had known about this.

"Yes, well, only just, I found out about a week ago when Calleigh took me back to Louisiana with her. That's why I attacked her dad, he made her do all of those things, but he didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with that, he said that 'it'd been for her own good' and that 'he was only trying to look after her'. I couldn't let him get away with that, the things he was saying, I couldn't stop myself I started hitting him and just couldn't stop, it was only Calleigh trying to stop me that made me stop kicking him."

"I knew there had to be more to the story," Horatio said, now understanding why they had been so reluctant to talk about what had happened, he wished he had been there, he would have killed the guy, he wasn't usually one for revenge, more one for justice, but he was sure he would have made and exception in this case. "So Calleigh told you what had happened?" He was surprised, it must've taken something pretty huge for Calleigh to open up like that, he knew she and Eric were close but this was big, this was something she had kept hidden for so long, he wanted to know what had forced her to open up.

"No," Eric started, "her brother told me, and then I confronted her about it, the things those bastards did to her, if I ever get my hands on them you'll be arresting me for murder." Horatio believed him; in fact he was sure he would probably join him.

Ryan then walked out of the house with bags full of evidence.

"I'm going to take this stuff back to the lab, I found an address book, I figured it might have the contact details of his friend in it," Ryan said, loading the evidence into the hummer.

"Ok, good work, Eric and I will finish up here and then follow you back to the lab," Horatio replied. Eric and Horatio went back into the lab and collected little more evidence, when they had finished they collected their belongings and Calleigh's kit from the living room before loading it all into the hummer.

"What are we going to do about Calleigh?" Eric asked, they didn't even know which direction she had run in, and she had left a while ago, he knew they had little chance of finding her right now.

"Leave her," Horatio replied, "she's had a shock, the lab isn't far from here, I'm sure she'll turn up back there when she is ready."

Eric and Horatio climbed into the hummer and set off back towards the lab, the journey was quiet, they were both worried about Calleigh, what if she didn't turn up back at the lab, what if she didn't turn up at all. They both knew she'd feel ashamed, even though she had no reason to be, Eric just hoped she'd be at the lab waiting for them when they returned.

Ten minutes later, they pulled up into the car park and gathered the evidence from the hummer before making their way into CSI to log in the evidence. After logging in evidence, they both searched the lab for Calleigh; Claudia had said she'd arrived earlier so she must be here somewhere. Eric checked firearms and Horatio checked trace and DNA and then when they hadn't found her they both made their ways towards the AV lab, Horatio opened the door and Eric followed him in and what they saw brought tears to their eyes.

* * *

TBC…

Ok, so there was chapter 18, I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reading, please review, they make me so happy and are what keep me writing! Thank you!

I really have to go to sleep now, its gone midnight and I have a maths exam in less than 9 hours, I really must go to sleep, so please R&R!


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you so much for all of the reviews! Ok here's chapter 19, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I kept writing and rewriting it but it never seemed to flow properly, and I didn't want to go into too much detail or anything, I couldn't decide, so I decided to post it and let you guys decide what you think!

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Calleigh was stood in front of the TV screen, tears streaming down her face, Eric looked at the screen, she was watching the videos they had found earlier, it broke his heart. He looked back at Calleigh, she wasn't moving, she wasn't even blinking, there were just tears streaming down her face, he wanted to go over and hold her, he wanted to turn the video off, but he knew she wouldn't let him, that'd be seen as her being weak, or him being over protective.

"Calleigh," Eric started, "why are you watching this?" He didn't understand why she would want to relive the worst part of her life now that she didn't have to, surely she'd rather just forget it altogether.

"I…..I have to, he might be on here somewhere, we have to find that little girl, I know what they'll be doing to her, she shouldn't have to go through that, I have to get her out of there."

"Calleigh this isn't your fault," Eric began; he knew there was no point she was determined this was her fault and he knew nobody was going to talk her out of it, "Calleigh, please don't do this to yourself," he begged.

Calleigh didn't say anything, so Horatio decided to try.

"Calleigh, you don't have to watch these, we can get somebody else to do that."

Calleigh continued to stare at the screen but replied, "I don't want anybody else to see these, I'll watch them, besides, I'm more likely to remember something aren't I? I might remember something that isn't on camera or in the pictures; I might remember a name or something."

Eric realised that she just didn't want anybody else to see the pictures and videos, they were her at the most vulnerable point in her life, and she still felt ashamed that they existed. He could understand where she was coming from though, she worked with these people day in day out, she didn't want them to see her like that, there, she was a victim, she was weak and these were the very people to whom she'd spent her entire life trying to prove how strong she was. She couldn't let them see her like that.

Calleigh was still watching the video, it was as if she thought if she turned away for a second she'd miss something important. Eric didn't want to watch, he was trying to turn his eyes away from the screen, but he couldn't, he wondered what sort of animal that made him. The little girl on the screen was so small, so scared, so lonely, on her own surrounded by a group of 6 men on the camera, Eric recognised one of them as her father, the things they were doing to her were horrific. Eric kept watching, but then realised he was going to be sick, he ran from the lab towards the bathroom as quickly as possible, emptying his stomach contents into the toilet. As he left the cubicle, he noticed Horatio run into the next one and throw up as well, Eric started splashing water on his face, trying to get the bitter taste out of his mouth, Horatio soon joined him.

"How could we not have known?" Eric asked, still amazed how long she had managed to keep this a secret, he still had pictures from the video in his head, it was like it was a disease spreading through his body, he couldn't stop the images attacking his mind and he was beginning to realise just what Calleigh had been going through for the last 20 years.

"I….I don't know," Horatio answered truthfully, what he had just seen, had been the worst thing he had ever seen in his entire life, there was no question of that. He had not had the nicest of childhoods himself, but this was horrific, the things he had just watched made his childhood look fantastic, Calleigh had lived in a place worse than hell and yet look at her now, intelligent, happy, and successful, he was amazed. He would never have guessed any of this about Calleigh, she was always so cheerful, he couldn't believe it had all been a mask.

"But those videos, they were…..they were….." Eric started, he couldn't even think of a word to describe them, and he had only seen a couple of seconds of one of them, Ryan had found so many more, he didn't want to think about how many more, especially if they were all as bad as this one. "How can she watch them?"

"I don't know," Horatio replied, "I suppose to prove to herself that she's not scared anymore."

"But what they were doing……..how could they do that? She was just a kid," Eric was still struggling to get his head around this, although he knew that the little girl on the video had been Calleigh, his mind didn't want to comprehend it. Before, when he had first found out about this, he didn't have to imagine what it must have been like, but now it was right there in front of him. He just hoped that when he looked at Calleigh again he didn't see her like that, that was the last thing he wanted and he knew she'd hate that, he loved her so much, he felt betrayed by the videos, it was stupid he knew but he couldn't help it.

Horatio and Eric left the bathroom, Horatio didn't know what to say, this morning had been a normal morning and now it felt like the heart of his team had been ripped out and he had to find some way to repair it. They made their way back to the AV lab, Eric just hoped Calleigh had stopped watching those videos, he didn't think he could bear to see any of them again, he was amazed that anybody could enjoy watching that, these people really were sick. When they entered the lab, Calleigh was still watching the video, she'd turned the sound up and the sound of the little girl begging them to stop almost killed Eric, to know that that was Calleigh and that she'd been through all of this broke his heart. Eric walked up and stopped the video even though Calleigh tried to turn it back on he stopped her and she turned and ran from the lab, Eric started after her but Horatio caught his arm and stopped him.

"Give her some time Eric, she just needs some time."

"But…." Eric tried to protest.

"Eric, leave her, she'll find you when she's ready."

Eric felt useless, every time he tried to help her, it seemed that she ran away from him, at least when they had been in Louisiana she'd opened up to him, but now they were back in Miami, it was as if what happened in Darnell never really happened. Eric wanted to be there for her, he had been shocked by the videos but he knew she blamed herself, he wanted to tell her that he didn't blame her, he wanted to convince her that it really hadn't been her fault. Eric looked up as Ryan walked into the room.

"H, we've got a lead, we know where she's being held," Ryan said, out of breath from running to the lab.

Eric and Horatio followed Ryan out of the lab, both hoping to find this little girl, they wanted this case to end, for the girl, for them and for Calleigh, they wanted to be able to put this behind them and carry on as though this had never happened. They wanted the old Calleigh back.

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Ok there you go, let me know what you think, like I say, I'm not too sure about it, it didn't flow very well and seemed a little stiff, please review, I really need to know what you think! I promise to update soon! 


	20. Chapter 20

Thank you for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 20…

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Horatio and Eric climbed into the hummer with Ryan, as Ryan continued to explain that the address book they had found had the name and address, of a guy named John Talbot, who had priors for rape and sexual assault. Ryan continued.

"A patrol went around to his house and the neighbours said they hadn't seen him for a few days, but the last time they saw him he was with a girl matching the description of Laura Hanson, they said he also owns a house on the outskirts of town that he sometimes goes to, we think that is where he has the girl."

"Ok, so do we actually know he's going to be there?" asked Eric.

"No, but there's a good chance he will be, at least we know he has her, he was seen with her."

"True," Horatio commented, "but that's not a good thing, and they might not be there, do we have any other leads?"

"No," Ryan started, "well none other than the videos."

"Yes, well, lets just leave them out of this for the moment," Horatio said, he still couldn't believe what he had seen, that the little girl had been Calleigh, he didn't want to have to watch the videos, besides they had been made years ago, the chances that all of the guys on the tape still knew each other and were still hurting children were not that high. He knew that if there was nothing else then somebody would have to watch them, figure out who the men were and if they were living in Miami, but he didn't want to do it, and he didn't want to make any member of his team have to watch them, he didn't give out jobs he wasn't willing to do himself, he always thought that was unfair. He knew Calleigh had been right when she had said that she was the one who was most likely to find something by watching the videos, but there was no way he was going to let her watch them again, the sight of her watching them the first time had broken his heart there was no way he could stand to see that again.

"Was that really Calleigh on the videos?" Ryan asked, after a moment, although the little girl had looked like Calleigh and Calleigh had run off when they had been found, he still didn't want to believe that they had been of her.

"Yes," was all Eric could answer, he still had the images swirling around his head, he wanted them to go away, he didn't want to have to see her like that, it was killing him, what those men had been doing to her, it was sick, a wave of nausea swept over him, he desperately tried to think of something else, try to replace the pictures with something nice, but it wasn't working.

* * *

Calleigh was sat on a bench outside the crime lab, staring into space when Alex found her, she looked so sad; it took Alex's breath away.

"Calleigh, sweetheart, are you ok?"

Calleigh just nodded in reply.

"Can I sit down?" Alex asked she had every intention of sitting down anyway; she just wanted Calleigh to say something.

Calleigh just nodded again, and Alex took the seat next to her.

"I heard about what happened."

"I'm probably the laughing stock of the whole lab by now," Calleigh said still not looking at Alex.

"No one's laughing, Calleigh."

"Yeah right," Calleigh replied.

"They're not."

"Then they just feel sorry for me then," Calleigh said, "I don't want their pity."

"What do you want?" Alex asked.

"I just want everything to go back to how it was before," Calleigh started, "before Joe died, before I went to Louisiana, before any of this happened, I didn't want anybody to know any of this, I knew telling Eric had been a bad idea, but Mike had already told him."

"Mike?" Alex asked.

"My brother," Calleigh explained, "after my dad hit me, I ran off and Mike and Eric talked about our childhood and Mike had already told him everything by the time I got a chance to speak to him."

"Your dad hit you?" Alex asked, slightly shocked that even after all this time her dad would try something like that.

"Yes, but that's not the point, if I hadn't run off then Eric would never have found out any of this."

"Yes he would."

"There is no reason for him to ever have known."

"Calleigh, whether you had gone home or not, this case would still have turned up here and now, you going back to Louisiana had nothing to do with it. This little girl would still be missing, those videos would still have been found, it's just a coincidence that this case happened when it did."

"I don't know Alex, why does this all feel like it's my fault?"

"Calleigh none of this is your fault, it's like my mom used to say, 'the truth always comes out in the end' and she was right it always does."

"Well I wish it hadn't bothered," Calleigh smiled.

"I know its hard Calleigh, but it could be over soon, they've got a lead, H, Eric and Ryan have a possible location for a guy associated with Jack Halford."

"They've got a suspect?" Calleigh asked, slightly disheartened that she hadn't been informed of this, but then again she had run out of the lab like a complete idiot, she couldn't blame them for not wanting her involved, in this state she was useless.

"They said you were watching the videos," Alex said, wondering why on earth she would choose to watch something like that, "why?"

"I don't know, to prove to myself that I survived, to prove to myself that I'm not scared of them anymore," Calleigh tried to explain, but she didn't know why she wanted to watch the videos so badly, she just did, "somebody's going to have to watch them, especially if they don't find her, maybe it was one the guys on the tapes, but I don't want anybody I know to have to watch them, so I figured I should just do it."

"Calleigh, that doesn't make sense," Alex tried to explain, "it's not your fault those videos were made, you were just a child."

"I know that," Calleigh started, she didn't know how to explain, "but if had wanted them to stop enough, I would have been able to, I was too weak, I was too stupid to even try, so I did nothing."

"Calleigh, you were not too weak, you survived, you got out of there, look at everything you've accomplished, you've got a great job and a boyfriend who loves you more than anything in the world, you're a survivor Calleigh, that's something to be proud of, not many people could endure what you have and come out the other side, that takes a lot of strength and courage."

"How did you know me and Eric were…" Calleigh asked, they hadn't told anybody about their relationship.

"Oh sweetie, that was obvious, he's been in love with you since the day he met you, you were just a little slow on the uptake! When Horatio said that he had gone home with you, I knew you'd finally realised your feelings, it took you long enough!"

"I suppose it did," Calleigh replied.

* * *

Horatio Eric and Ryan pulled up at a house the same time as the patrol car, they all jumped out and Horatio sent Ryan and a patrol around the back whilst he and Eric covered the front. Horatio walked up and knocked on the door, when there was no answer, he shouted.

"Miami Dade Police, Open up!" the door didn't open, Eric took a step back before kicking the door in, Horatio and Eric both walked in their guns drawn, Ryan and the patrol had made their way in the back and they made their way upstairs whilst Eric and Horatio searched downstairs.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

There was nobody in that house.

Ryan made his way downstairs and walked into the kitchen, where Eric and Horatio were standing.

"She's not here," Ryan said, deflated.

"No," Horatio replied "but she must be somewhere. Lets search this place and then get back to the lab, there has to be more evidence, we just haven't found it yet."

* * *

Calleigh and Alex were still sat outside the crime lab, not saying anything, but neither willing to move. Alex was still trying to comprehend everything she had found out about Calleigh in the last few hours, this morning she thought she knew her well, but this had come out of nowhere and Alex was amazed how well Calleigh had managed to keep this a secret, she was usually good at guessing things about people, but this had well and truly shocked her. She had heard about Eric and Horatio's reaction to the videos and knew they must have been bad, Horatio had seen some pretty horrific things at his time in the lab and she had never known anything have such an effect on him. The silence was broken by the sound of Calleigh's phone ringing.

"Duquesne," she answered it, and continued to listen.

"Little Miss Robinson, nice to hear your voice again, it's been a long time, I believe it's Miss Duquesne now, but you will always be Little Miss Robinson to me."

"Who is this? How did you get my number?" Calleigh asked, Alex noticed the worry in her voice.

"Calleigh who is it?" she asked.

Calleigh continued to listen to the man on the other end of the phone.

"I'm offended!" the man said, "you must remember me, we used to have fun together, my name is John Talbot, remember me now?"

"You bastard!" Calleigh shouted down the phone.

"Now, now that's not very nice is it? I have something you may be looking for, you may want to be a little nicer to me in the future," the man said.

Calleigh listened and heard a scream, she was sure it was from the little girl they were trying to find.

"Just let her go John, let her go, she doesn't deserve this, she hasn't done anything," Calleigh answered.

"Where's the fun in that?" he replied, "she wants to have some fun, she reminds me a little of you that way!"

"Let her go!"

"No, but if you want to see her alive, you will come and meet us," he answered.

"Ok," Calleigh replied, at least this way they could find the little girl.

Calleigh listened as he gave her an address, "Oh, and make sure you come alone, any sign of anyone else and I will kill the girl."

Calleigh heard the girl scream again.

"Ok," she replied and then the line went dead.

* * *

TBC….

Thank you so much for reading this, I'd have thought you'd be getting bored by now! Please read and review! I' really like to hear what you think, and reviews make me so so happy!


	21. Chapter 21

Thank you so much for all of the reviews! This chapter is a little short than usual, (ok a lot!) but please read it and let me know what you think! My last exams are on Monday so after that I will update so much! I promise!

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"Calleigh who was that?" Alex asked as Calleigh as she put her phone away.

"Um, no one, nothing, I have to go," Calleigh replied standing up and walking towards the lab.

"Calleigh, where are you going?" Alex asked walking up to her.

"I have to go," Calleigh said as she continued to walk away from Alex, "Alex?"

"Yes."

"Would you do something for me?" Calleigh asked her, stopping and finding a piece of paper, she began to and address write on it.

"Sure, what is it honey?"

"When Horatio and Eric get back, give them this," she handed her the piece of paper, "but, Alex, make sure you wait until they get back, please don't phone them and tell them, promise me you won't."

"Ok, but Calleigh, please be careful, please."

"I will be Alex, I always am, but I have to do this."

Alex watched as Calleigh walked off towards her hummer and climbed in, she knew she shouldn't let her go and that she'd regret it, but Calleigh was determined and as soon as Horatio and Eric got back they could go and find her.

* * *

Ryan, Horatio and Eric were still searching John Talbot's house, they had found some more videos and pictures, mostly of Calleigh, it had broken Eric's heart to find them, he knew if he ever got his hands on these bastards he'd kill them with his bare hands. He wondered how Calleigh was now, he hoped she wasn't watching the videos again; she shouldn't have to relive that, no matter what anyone said. Ryan walked into the room where Eric and Horatio were finishing up.

"Found anything else?" Ryan asked.

"No, nothing," Horatio replied.

"This must be connected to what happened to Calleigh," Ryan started, "so far the two houses we have searched have both had pictures and videos of her, how likely is that? Were either of them on the videos?"

"I don't know," Horatio replied after a while, he didn't want to have to think about what he had seen on the videos, he wasn't sure if either of them were, to be honest he hadn't been paying attention to the men, their faces hadn't been on the video much anyway, he had been more upset to see Calleigh in that position, than to start examining it as evidence.

"Eric?" Ryan asked turning to face him.

"Um, I'm not sure they might have been, I wasn't really watching."

"Ok," Horatio said, feeling the need to change the subject, "lets get this stuff back to the lab and see if we can find anything else that might lead us to the girl."

* * *

Calleigh pulled up outside the address Talbot had given her, there was a car on the driveway but there didn't appear to be anyone around, she climbed out of the hummer and walked cautiously up the drive, she drew her gun as she walked up the front door and knocked on it. Suddenly the door swung open…..

* * *

TBC…

Ok, I know you really hate me now, I'm sorry! And I'm sorry this is so short but I have been so busy today, I figured you'd rather have a little bit that none at all! I'm sorry, but I will update as soon as possible, and I think the next chapter may be exciting but I haven't actually decided what is going to happen yet, so any ideas would be gratefully received! If you read this please review, I know it's short but reviews make me happy! I promise the next chapter will be longer!


	22. Chapter 22

Thanks for all of your reviews! Here's the next chapter as promised, it's longer so enjoy!

Thanks to paramedic for some help with the ideas in this chapter!

I finished all of my exams today I'm so happy! So, I should be able to update so much more!

* * *

Calleigh watched as the door opened and tried to adjust her eyes to the darkness inside the room, as she looked harder, she saw a figure standing in front of her just behind the door, the figure stepped toward her, it was her father. She struggled to breath, how could he be here? She had left him in Darnell and now he was here, he had been involved in all of this, this was about her, she felt sick.

"Hello Calleigh," her father started smiling at her, "it's nice to see you."

"What are you doing here?" she asked stepping back slightly, her gun was still drawn, but this had surprised her, she had expected some trouble but not this, not him, not here.

"I thought I'd surprise you," he said, "surely you didn't think I'd let you get away with that stunt you pulled back home did you. You'd better come in; we don't want to disturb the neighbours now do we? They'll think you're causing trouble."

He started to shut the door so she walked in and stood with her back to the door, her dad gestured for her to follow him and she did so, walking into what appeared to be the living room so the house, she'd just walked into the room, when she felt a sharp pain to her head. She fell to the floor in agony, turning to see John Talbot stood behind the door, he kicked her hand and her gun flew across the room, there was nothing she could do.

She tried to stand up, but as soon as she was on her knees another sharp kick forced her back to the floor, pain seared through her body as the kicks kept coming, John just kept kicking her over and over. After what seemed like a lifetime, the kicks subsided and she managed to stand, as soon as she did her father walked over to her and punched in the face, she managed to remain standing, but after another punch she was on her knees.

"Just because you're all grown up now doesn't mean I can't take my belt to you!" Her father screamed, whilst removing his belt. Calleigh just watched, she couldn't move, she hated herself for it, but everything she tried just didn't work, her mind and body had frozen and as soon as the belt hit her the first time, she was a child again, she had never escaped, it was like she had dreamed the last 20 years of her life and now she had woken up to the harsh reality. The belt kept hitting her, she tried to crawl away but every move she made seemed to intensify the pain, so she just lay there and waited for him to stop.

Suddenly he stopped, Calleigh opened her eyes and he came towards her, she felt her father and John grab her wrists and they seemed to be dragging her up the stairs, her mind was trying to stay awake, she desperately just wanted to pass out, let it all go away, let them do what they wanted to her when she wasn't here to witness it, but she knew it was possible that Laura was here, she'd come here to find her, she must be here somewhere. She felt her body as she hit something soft, and opened her eyes to realise she was on a bed, she knew what was going to happen, she'd been here before, she couldn't let it happen again, she just couldn't, it'd taken her 20 years to try and move past this last time, there was no way she was going to do that again, she couldn't, she wasn't strong enough.

She was left alone the door was closed behind them, it was only when she tried to move that she realised her hands had been tied above her head. She couldn't figure out why they wanted her now, was this all about revenge? When she turned 18 they'd started telling her she was getting too old for them, she always thought that was why they had let her leave so easily, they hadn't put up a fight or tried to stop her, she really had been getting too old for them.

She wanted to go to sleep, she just wanted to go to a nice place anywhere that wasn't here, she just wanted all of this to go away. She thought about Eric, she loved him so much, and he'd loved her despite her faults, she was sure he wouldn't feel the same after this, how could he? It broke her heart, he had been the only person she had ever let in, the only person she had given her heart to and now it was being broken again, he wouldn't want her if she ever got out of here.

She remembered giving Alex the address, that was good, she was so glad she had thought to do that, at least this way they'd find her pretty soon, it just depended how long they were going to stay at the crime scene, she was beginning to wish she had just called them to tell them where she was going, that way they'd be here now and she wouldn't be going through this.

The door swung open and her dad walked back into the room, he came and sat on the bed next to her, he started stroking her face.

"You know, you always were my little girl, I do love you."

Calleigh turned her face away from his touch.

"No, I'm not, I'm not your anything, you don't control me, not anymore!"

"You know that's not true," her father started, "and now I have to teach you a lesson, you thought you could trick me into dropping the charges against that boyfriend of yours, well it doesn't work like that I'm afraid, did you really think I'd let you get away with that?"

"There's nothing you can do about it now anyway, we're even, I didn't bring any charges against you, so you don't press charges against Eric," Calleigh argued.

"Yes, but there was never enough evidence was there? They had nothing to charge me with, and for that I have to get even."

"You won't get away with this though," Calleigh said, "there will be plenty of evidence this time and you won't be getting away with this."

"Calleigh, do you really think I haven't thought about that? When we've had enough, we've got places to run and hide, they can come and find you, but they'll never find us, no matter how good you think they are. I love you Calleigh, you just never obeyed by my rules. But maybe it's time we had some fun."

He moved closer to her and started to undress her, she could feel his hands touching her, she didn't want to be here again, she couldn't go through this.

"Get Off Me!" she yelled, wriggling trying to move away from his tough, but she was tied, there was no where she could go.

At the sound of her scream, five other men walked into the room, Calleigh recognised them all, one was Jack Halford, they were all older, but there was no doubt they were the same men.

"Come on Calleigh," Jack started, "we just want to have a little fun, you know how much we like you, you were always so good for us, you had to want it really, you can scream and shout all you like but as soon as we get down to business you'll shut up you always did."

"No, No please don't, you don't need to do this," Calleigh begged, "Please, not again, they will come and find me you won't get away with this." Calleigh hoped they'd get here soon, she knew they'd come eventually, it was just a matter of when, she didn't want to have to go through this first, it'd break her, she knew it, and her friends had already seen her weak too many times recently, but after this she wasn't convinced she'd be able to put the pieces back together.

"Look, she's just as I remember her," one of the men said.

"Yes, she looks just as much fun as ever," the man laughed and Calleigh just wanted to get out of here, she just wanted to wake up and make it all be over.

Jack moved to her side and began to remove his trouser so she could see how turned on he was, "she was always so tight, do you think she still is?" he asked looking at her as if he owned her.

"No, Please!" Calleigh begged again, she knew how much it'd hurt, she didn't want to have to cope, she just wanted to die.

"She doesn't want us to hurt her," her dad laughed, "ok, fine we won't hurt you."

"What?" Calleigh asked, unsure she'd hurt correctly.

"We won't hurt you," he leaned over and began untying her arms from the bed and moving her to the floor, he tied her arms to the radiator.

Calleigh was confused, she was so sure they were going to rape her, she was sure of it, why would they stop, it can't have been because of what she'd said, she'd begged them to stop so many times before and they never had before, what was different this time.

Jack left the room.

"Only there's a price," her dad said, "we won't hurt you on one condition."

"What?" Calleigh asked, wondering what they were after.

"Well we have to have some fun today," her dad said, moving out of the way so she could see the rest of the room.

Calleigh watched as Jack walked back into the room, he was dragging Laura into the room and laid her on the bed. Calleigh looked at the girl, she was so small, she looked straight at Calleigh, she was terrified, it was in her eyes, she was silently begging Calleigh to make them stop.

"If we can't have fun with you then we have to have fun with someone else."

"No, you don't need to do this!" Calleigh couldn't believe this was happening, she didn't want to have this little girl hurt, she didn't deserve that, she was just a kid.

"Well we can't have any fun with you, besides you're a little too old for us now anyway, you served your purpose well a few years back, but you're not such a turn on anymore. Calleigh, this is your fault, I can't let you get away with what you did, thinking you could trick me to save that stupid boyfriend of yours, you have to know this is your fault, it is all happening because of you. We could just hurt you again, but there isn't much there we haven't tried before, you're already past that, so instead I thought it would be more fun, to let you watch, you know how much it hurts, you know what she is going through, this will all be your fault, she will remember this forever and it will all be your fault."

Calleigh couldn't believe this, it just got worse and worse, when she had managed to convince herself that it couldn't get any worse it did, just when she had resigned herself to the facts of what were going to happen, they didn't happen and it just got worse. He had been right, if she let this happen to this little girl it would be her fault, all she had to do was find a way to make it stop. She was trying to think, but her whole body ached and she felt like her brain just wouldn't keep up, she didn't know if it was from the head wound, or just all of the feelings she had raging inside of her at the moment.

Calleigh watched as some of the men moved toward the bad and began undressing themselves, they looked at the girl, the way they used to look at her, she thought she was going to be sick.

* * *

TBC…

I know this is a bit of a random chapter ending, but I'm really tired and this would be a really long chapter if I wrote it all at once! Thank you so much for reading it, if you did read it please review, it's polite! And your reviews make me very very happy!


	23. Chapter 23

Thanks for all of your reviews! Ok, so here you go, chapter 23…

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Eric, Ryan and Horatio pulled up at the lab and unloaded the evidence before making their way into the building; they logged in the evidence before meeting in the layout room to discuss the case. They were short on leads and needed to find something new before they could move forward and have a chance at finding this little girl.

"Has anyone seen Calleigh?" Horatio asked looking at the other two, both of whom started shaking their heads.

Alex burst into the room.

"Horatio," she said, out of breath, "Calleigh got a phone call, someone told her to go here," she passed him the piece of paper.

"And she went?" Eric asked, not believing Calleigh would go somewhere like this without waiting for back up.

"Yes, nearly an hour ago, she said that it was something she had to do, they told her to go alone or they'd kill the girl," Alex replied.

"Ok," Horatio said, "let's get over there."

"I'm coming," Alex said, not a question, more of a statement, Horatio looked at her, she answered his question before he asked it, "someone might need medical attention."

"Ok, you go with Ryan, Eric you're with me." They all made their way over to the parking lot and climbed into the hummers.

They were about halfway there, Eric kept looking at his watch, this seemed to be taking forever, it wasn't even that far away.

* * *

Calleigh watched in horror as her father began to undress the girl before her, the girl was starring at Calleigh, tears streaming down her face, her eyes begging Calleigh to make it stop, she couldn't let this happen to her, she was so young, innocent, Calleigh knew if she went through this now it'd stay with her for the rest of her life. Calleigh tried to figure a way out of this, but she couldn't, she was tied, the girl was tied, there were 6 men how was she supposed to stop this?

"Take me instead!" Calleigh yelled, she had already been through this many times, it would be better this way; she had survived before she knew she could again and it wouldn't destroy this little girls life.

"What?" her father asked turning to look at her.

"Do it to me, do what ever you like, I don't care! Just leave her alone!"

"Well that's funny! Only five minutes ago you were begging us to leave you alone and we did! Now you want it, make up your mind girl?!"

"Please," Calleigh begged, "and if you did it to me, it wouldn't be rape, I'm agreeing to it!"

"You know what?" her dad said, "there's not nearly as much fun in that! It's much more fun to make you watch, and besides what sort of a punishment is it if you're asking for it?"

"It would be, you could do what you like, I don't care, just don't hurt her!"

"I don't think I can do that," her dad answered, "now shut up, you're supposed to be watching, not interrupting!"

Calleigh couldn't believe this was happening, she began searching the room with her eyes, there had to be something here to help her, there must be something she could use against them, she found nothing. The girl screamed and Calleigh looked over, she couldn't bare to watch, the girl was naked now and the men were touching her, Calleigh couldn't watch this, it was all her fault, she should never have tried to catch her father out in the first place, if she hadn't, none of this would be happening.

One of the men began undressing himself, as he removed his jacket Calleigh saw a gun tucked into the back of his trousers, she watched as he removed his pants and threw them on the floor the gun fell with them, no one seemed to notice. If she could just reach the gun she could make all of this stop, she'd be in control again, she could stop this. The gun was too far away for her to reach, she kicked her legs out from under her, trying to catch the trousers and pull them towards her hoping the gun would remain on top of them. As she moved she was reminded of her injuries, her entire body ached as she moved the tiniest distance, the gun seemed to be miles away, the further she reached the more it hurt and she was also reminded of the permanent pounding in her head. She could reach, she was sure of it, she had to, she couldn't subject the little girl to this, she didn't deserve it. Just a little bit more, she reached the trousers, she tried to pull them towards her using her toes but she only succeeded in pushing them further away. She moved her whole body so she was practically lying down on the floor, her wrists hurt even more as she pulled on the rope, she needed this gun, she had to reach it. She managed to pull the trousers towards her, the girl screamed again, Calleigh looked up her father was entirely naked and was now on top of the little girl, she grabbed the gun.

"She's got a gun!" A man yelled from beside her father and Jack pulled out a gun of his own and pointed it towards Calleigh.

* * *

"How could she be so stupid?" Eric asked, he didn't understand why Calleigh would put herself in this potentially dangerous situation without even calling for help or to let anyone know where she was going.

"She's had a lot on her mind recently Eric, what with her brother, going home and then the videos. I think she thought she'd be able to deal with it, it was like Alex said maybe it was something she just had to do; she's been running from her past for so long, maybe this is her opportunity to deal with it.

"But not like this!" Eric said, "she should have waited, who knows what she has walked into, they're evil, they could be doing anything to her, they've done it before!"

"You can't think like that Eric, she's strong, I'm sure she's doing fine."

"You don't know that, what if they're doing all of those things they used to do to her? What if it's worse? What if she gives up? What if they've killed her?"

"Eric, you have to stop with the what ifs, it will drive you crazy, we're nearly there now." Horatio pulled up outside the address Alex had given him, Calleigh's hummer was parked outside, "at least we know she's here."

They climbed out of the hummer and Ryan and Alex pulled up behind them. Eric and Horatio made their way toward the front door, and Ryan went to the back of the house. They reached the front door; Eric was about to knock when a shot was heard from inside the house…….

* * *

TBC…

I am so evil! I know you hate me! That was very mean! I'm very sorry! (I'm not really!) Ok so if you want to find out what happens you really need to review! That faster you review, the faster you get to find out what happens next! Maybe I killed Calleigh, maybe I didn't, Eric would be devastated, but then again every story ends happily ever after, maybe this one won't! Please R & R!


	24. Chapter 24

Thank you so so much for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 24 and I think you will hate me by the end of it! Hehe!

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Another shot rang out as Eric broke down the door and ran into the house, followed by Horatio, they both heard a scream come from upstairs and both made their way up the stairs as fast as they possibly could. They ran to the room at the end of the corridor, they both had their guns drawn and Eric pushed the door open.

"MDPD! Drop the gun!" he yelled at the man holding the gun aimed at Calleigh. Eric briefly looked at Calleigh she looked awful, all of her clothes had been removed except her underwear, but it was her face he noticed. Her face was battered and bruised and her shoulder was bleeding, then he realised she'd been shot in the shoulder, she was staring at him, she opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words so didn't say anything.

The men in the room began to panic, the man holding the gun dropped it and moved away from the bed, Horatio looked on the bed, Laura was on it and there was a man lying next to her, dead, the bullet had gone right through his chest, he looked back over at Calleigh and saw she was holding a gun, she must have done this, the other guy was standing at the wrong angle to have fired this shot, but he had been the one who shot Calleigh, he had to be. Some patrols appeared at the top of the stairs along with Ryan.

"Take them away," Horatio said to them and they watched as the five remaining men were led out by the officers.

Eric walked over to Calleigh, the wound on the shoulder looked very deep, it was bleeding a lot, she needed medical attention. "Calleigh are you ok?" he asked, he knew it was a stupid question but he didn't know what else to say. She just looked at him, her eyes were empty, haunted, she looked defeated. He began to untie the ropes holding her wrists to the radiator, he noticed how red her wrists were, she had been trying to get out of here, she had tried to escape, he felt so guilty.

Horatio walked over to Laura who was lying on the bed, her focus had been on Calleigh the entire time, she hadn't looked at anything else that had been going on around her.

"Laura," he said, trying to get her to look at him, she had to know he was here to help her, he didn't want her to think he was going to hurt her, he wanted her to feel safe. Her gaze didn't move, he slowly reached above her head and slowly began to untie the ropes, she didn't move, he didn't know if that was a good thing or not. As soon as the ropes were untied, she sat up suddenly nearly knocking Horatio off the bed, she got off the bed and ran over to Calleigh, she fell to the floor next to her and clung to her as if she were her lifeline.

Calleigh was surprised by this, this had all been her fault, surely the girl should hate her, but no she was here, clinging to her, Calleigh wrapped her arms around the girl, she knew how scared she must have been, especially as she had realised what they were about to do to her.

"It's ok, sweetheart, it's going to be ok, they can't hurt you anymore," she said these words to herself as much as to the girl, she also needed convincing that she was actually still alive, there had been a moment when she had been sure that they were both going to be killed, but they were here, and both very alive.

After what seemed like many hours, but was probably only a few minutes, the girl was prised away from Calleigh by the paramedics who wanted to look at them both. Alex also walked into the room now that it was safe and started helping the paramedics try to stop the bleeding from Calleigh's shoulder. Calleigh watched as Laura was taken out of the room on a stretcher, she wanted to know what she could do to make this ok for her, but she knew there was nothing she could do, she just needed time. Calleigh looked over at Eric who was standing next to her, he smiled at her comfortingly and took hold of her hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb in small circles. Calleigh felt so tired, she wanted to go to sleep, her shoulder hurt so much, she couldn't feel her arm, she just wanted to sleep as the paramedics carried her down the stairs and into the ambulance but Eric told her to stay awake for him, she tried, she really did but she just wanted to sleep, she didn't want to have to deal with this now.

Calleigh knew she had killed her dad, nobody seemed to have mentioned it yet, she never even heard anyone actually check to see if he was alive but the paramedics hadn't been trying to help him, so she must have killed him. She knew she had had to do it, but she felt so guilty, she had taken his life, she had killed her own dad, what kind of person did that make her? She was just as bad as him, in fact, she was worse, he had never killed anyone, he had been close, but he had never actually done it, well not that she knew of and now she had just killed him without a second thought. Her head hurt, she didn't know if it was from the beating or because she was trying to think to much, but eventually she gave in and decided she wanted to sleep, she could hear Eric trying to get her to wake up but she didn't want to, she was happy here.

Eric had insisted on riding in the ambulance with Calleigh, he needed her to be ok, he didn't know what he'd do if he lost her now, he loved her so much it hurt, she'd already been through so much, this couldn't kill her, she was stronger than that. He watched as she drifted to sleep, he had tried to keep her conscious but she had given in, part of him was glad, at least she wasn't hurting when she was unconscious. She really had taken a beating, as the paramedics had examined her there were bruises all over her body, her face, her arms, her stomach and her chest were all black and blue, he was no doctor but he could tell she had several broken ribs, it looked as if she had been kicked repeatedly until she collapsed.

They reached the hospital and Calleigh was wheeled inside, Eric walked with her, refusing to let go of her hand, eventually the nurse told him he couldn't go any further, he tried to argue with her but she stood her ground, and he let go of Calleigh's hand and walked up to the window, watching as she was pushed inside and the doctors went to work on her. He was about to turn away and find somewhere to sit when he heard the alarms so off around Calleigh he turned back and watched as she went into cardiac arrest and the doctors were fighting furiously to save her, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the view, she couldn't die, she couldn't leave him, they'd save her, they would, she wouldn't die, would she?...

* * *

TBC…

I am very evil, that was two cliffhangers in a row! Oh well as much as I'm sure you hate me, you must like me a little bit, I did update after all! lol! Ok, I was very mean, but please review this, it's your reviews that keep me writing, I appreciate them so so much! Thank you!


	25. Chapter 25

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 25…

* * *

Eric watched in horror as the doctors shocked her, she was going to die, he knew it, he needed her so much, he loved her, this couldn't kill her, she was so much stronger, had survived so much, she had to live. He was about to stop watching, he couldn't bear to watch her die, as he turned away slowly, he heard the machines surrounding her start beating with her regular heartbeat, she was alive, they'd saved her, she was going to be ok, Eric wanted to be with her, he wanted to hold her he walked toward the door and a doctor walked out.

"Mr Delko?" she asked.

"Yes," Eric replied, "is she ok?"

"Yes, for the moment, we have managed to stabilise her, she was losing a lot of blood, she had internal bleeding. She is through the worst, if she makes it through the night we're confident she'll be ok, we're going to move her to a private room so you can go and sit with her if you want, but we don't expect her to wake up until the morning."

"Thank you," Eric said, "thank you so much, for everything."

"You're welcome," the doctor said before leaving the room.

Eric followed as he was shown to where Calleigh was lying as he walked into the room he almost gasped when he saw her, her bruises looked so much worse in comparison to the bright white surroundings. He walked up and took her hand sitting down on the chair beside her bed, she looked so small just lying there, he loved her so much, he couldn't even describe the feelings that he felt they were so powerful.

Horatio, Ryan and Alex walked into the room and Eric turned around to look at them, Alex noticed how exhausted he looked, he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks the day really had taken its toll on him.

"How is she?" Alex asked.

"The doctors said that as long as she makes it through the night she should be ok," Eric explained, "I'm staying here with her."

"Eric are you sure that's a good idea?" Alex asked concerned about how unwell Eric looked himself, "she's in good hands, you should go home and get some sleep yourself, she's going to need you when she wakes up."

"I wouldn't sleep anyway, I might be able to here, and this way I'll be here if she wakes up or if something else happens."

"Ok, well call me if you need anything," Alex added before leaving. Horatio walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down and Ryan went out to get some coffee for himself and Eric.

Horatio looked at Calleigh, she really had been through a lot, he was reminded of everything else he had found out about her in the last day, it really had been so much to take on board, and now she was here. From what he understood the bullet wound had been superficial it had been the beating she had received earlier that was to blame for her current condition, her father had done this to her. Her father. It was one statement as brutal as it was honest and the fact that any man could raise his hand to a woman always mortified him, he saw it day in day out but it was something that he'd never understand, a man using his power to hurt a woman just because he could, it was wrong. But this was different, this was Calleigh, she had been the mans daughter, she was a woman now, but a child the first time he raised his hand to her, and it killed him that that wasn't the worst part, he'd raped her so many times and the only reason he had been able to do that was because he had been bigger than her, older than her, stronger than her, it was so unfair. Horatio looked at Eric, he clearly cared about Calleigh, he wondered how deep it went, he had gone back to Louisiana with her, she had opened up to him about secrets she had kept her entire life, she obviously trusted him deeply. Eric had stood by her through everything, were they together? He didn't know, he knew it was against the rules but he hoped they were, they were clearly meant to be together, he knew Eric would care for her, he wouldn't treat her badly, he respected her, he loved her? Horatio knew if they got together IAB would try and force one of them to quit, he didn't want that to happen, but he would stand by them whatever happened, they were both good CSI's and he knew they could work together professionally.

"She's going to be ok," Eric said, trying to reassure himself as well as Horatio.

"Yes she will," Horatio confirmed, "she's a fighter."

Eric turned and looked at the door as Ryan walked in and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Thank you."

They all sat there for about half an hour, talking about nothing much, Horatio explained that all the men had been arrested and were currently spending the night in lock up.

"What about her father?" Eric asked.

"What about him?"

"She killed him, is there going to be an investigation?"

"Probably," Horatio replied, "you know what IAB are like, any excuse to come sniffing around the place."

"But it's not like she had any choice, she had to do it," Eric argued, "she's going to feel bad enough about it as it is, she killed her own dad."

"Why would she care about him after what he did?" Ryan argued.

"He was still her dad," Eric explained, "she still loved him, despite what he did."

"Well we'll just have to try and keep IAB away from her for as long as possible, until this has all died down a bit, she needs to recover properly."

"Yes," Eric agreed.

"Ok, do you want a lift home Ryan?," Horatio said, standing up, "I'm going to go," he said turning to Eric, "are you sure you don't want a lift anywhere?"

"No thanks, I'm staying here; I don't want to leave her."

"Ok, well call us if there is any change in her condition."

Eric watched as Ryan and Horatio left, then he turned his attention back to Calleigh, he had failed her, he had promised her he wouldn't let anyone hurt her and now the man who had had promised to protect her from had hurt her again. He let his head rest on his hands on the side of her bed; he just watched her breathing, confident in the knowledge that she was still alive.

Some time later Eric awoke, he looked up and was pleased to see that Calleigh was still there, she was still ok, he took hold of her hand again and placed a delicate kiss on it, he loved her so much. He looked as her eyes slowly began to open and she tried to re focus her eyes to the bright light, she looked at him.

"Eric…"

* * *

TBC...

Ok so there you go, I was slightly nicer in that chapter! If you read this please review, reviews make me very happy! Thank you!


	26. Chapter 26

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 26…

* * *

"Eric…" Calleigh choked, her throat hurt, her whole body ached she felt like a train was running through her head, it was pounding. As her eyes managed to refocus she saw him sitting there by her side, he had hold of her hand and it made her feel safe, she liked that.

"Calleigh, it's ok, you're going to be ok," Eric tried to reassure her.

"What happened?" Calleigh asked confused, she remembered something had happened but she just couldn't remember what, it was cloudy, "where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, you were….you were attacked…um…"

"My dad," Calleigh said, suddenly beginning to remember as her memory began to clear.

"Yes…he…"

"I remember," Calleigh said, "he kept hitting me, he wouldn't stop, he was going to rape me but then he changed his mind and he was going to hurt Laura, I tried to get him to stop, I begged him to hurt me instead but he wouldn't, he said that would be no fun, I saw the gun I grabbed it and then I shot him, I had to, there was nothing else I could do, I couldn't let him hurt her." Calleigh was getting worked up, she was speaking so fast, Eric was struggling to understand her.

"Calleigh calm down, I know, it's ok, you don't have to talk about this now, it can wait for the moment, you need to rest."

"I am tired, but I won't be able to sleep, my mind is racing, I can't stop it, I killed my dad, I actually killed him, he's dead and it's my fault," Calleigh said trying to sit up, pain was evident on her face as she moved.

Eric leaned over to help her, he knew she shouldn't be sitting up yet, but he also knew she'd only argue with him so he thought it better to help her than to let her struggle on her own when she was in pain.

"Calleigh it wasn't your fault, there was nothing else you could have done," Eric tried to reassure.

"I shot him! How is that not my fault?" she shouted, seeing the look of hurt on Eric's face she felt immediately guilty, "Eric, I'm sorry, it's just…."

"I know its hard Calleigh, but you saved that little girl, she's safe now because of you."

"How is she?" Calleigh asked, she hoped she was ok; she'd never forgive herself if she wasn't.

"The doctors say she is fine, she had concussion, but other than that she just needed some food, they hadn't given her anything to eat, she's been asking to see you."

"Why would she want to see me?"

"You saved her Calleigh, she wants to thank you for that."

"It's my fault she was taken in the first place, had nobody told her that, she should hate me."

"Calleigh, please stop blaming yourself, this is not your fault, none of this has ever been your fault."

"Where are the rest of them? Did you get them?"

"Yes they all spent a night in the police cell, they will be interviewed over the next couple of days, Horatio wants to make them sweat a bit first."

"Good," was all Calleigh had to say.

"Calleigh you need to sleep, get some rest."

"I can't, I killed my dad, after everything I killed him, he didn't even have a gun I killed him in cold blood."

"Calleigh, he deserved it," Eric regretted saying that as soon as he said it.

"No Eric, I may have hated him, but it wasn't revenge, there were times when I wanted to kill him so much, times when he'd just left me with nothing and times when it hurt so much I wanted to die. When he first showed me how to use a gun I used to dream about shooting him, I never had the guts, I didn't dare, but now I have actually done it, I've killed him. Has anyone told Mike, Dave or Mom?"

"No, not yet, I didn't know if you wanted to do it, but I can do it if you want."

"No I'll do it, when will they let me out of here?"

"I don't know, I'll go and get a doctor so we can find out, ok?"

"OK, um Eric…"

"Yes?"

"Don't take too long," she asked.

"I'll be back as soon as possible."

Calleigh watched as he left the room, she still couldn't believe she had killed her own dad, her mom was going to kill her, she relived it in her mind over and over, trying to figure out what she could have done differently, there was nothing, she was sure of it. She thought about the girl, she was so glad she was ok, she knew what it was like to live with what they were going to do with her and was so glad the girl wouldn't have to carry that with her for her entire life. She looked down at her shoulder, there was a bandage on it, she remembered being shot, she remembered the searing pain that flashed through her body, she tried to move her arm, it moved but it was sore, at least she could move it, she needed to still be able to work.

Eric walked back in with a doctor who then carried out an examination of her, asking her to move when necessary but other than that she didn't really say anything.

"Ok, Miss Duquesne, if you rest for the rest of the day, you may be able to leave tomorrow as long as you make sufficient progress, but you will need rest when you go home, ok?"

"Yes, and thank you."

"You're welcome," the doctor replied before walking out of the room.

Calleigh and Eric sat in silence for a while, he was beginning to worry about her, she wasn't speaking, he wanted her to open up to him, he didn't want her to start bottling things up again.

"Maybe you're right," Calleigh said suddenly, "there really was nothing else I could do."

"There really wasn't Calleigh; this is not your fault."

"I wished him dead so many times, when I wanted to stop it hurting, ironic isn't it? I killed him now, he hasn't really hurt me for years and I kill him now after everything," Calleigh smiled sadly.

"Calleigh, you had every right to hate him."

"I spent years hating myself instead," Calleigh started, "there were times when I just wanted to die, there was one time, I was 13, they'd all just left and I was at home on my own, I don't know where everyone was, dad went to the pub with Jack and the others, I had had enough, I couldn't take anymore, I was determined that they had hurt me for the last time, I wasn't going to let it happen, there was only one way I could think to make it stop."

"Calleigh…"

"Eric, you don't understand what it was like in that place, I just wanted it to be over, I went downstairs and opened the gun safe, I grabbed a gun and walked back upstairs, I lay on the bed and held the gun to my head, I was shaking, I just wanted it to be over, I needed to be free. I wanted to pull the trigger, I so did, but then I thought about Mike, Dave and Joe, and I couldn't do it, I didn't want to leave them behind, I dropped the gun, I didn't do it, I eventually put the gun back and then went to bed. Dad came home after a few hours, he came in my room and raped me, I knew this was it, I was going to live like this for years, it was never going to be over, and I had had the chance to make it to stop and I had been too weak, it was my fault I was still there." Eric reached up and softly wiped the tears that were slowly making their way down her cheek away.

"Calleigh, please don't think that makes you weak, you're wrong, it makes you strong, you're a survivor, you made it."

"Thank you Eric, I really don't know what I would do without you."

Both Calleigh and Eric turned and looked as the door opened and Stetler walked in.

"Miss Duquesne, we need to talk…"

* * *

TBC…

Thank you so much for reading! If you read this chapter, please review and let me know what you think, reviews make me happy! I'll update soon!


	27. Chapter 27

Thank you so much for the reviews! Here's chapter 27…

* * *

Eric could not believe this man, Calleigh was still in hospital, she had only just got out of that house and yet here he was, what right did he have? Why did he think he could do this to her? Surely she'd been through enough in the last couple of days, they could wait a few more before interrogating her.

"Miss Duquesne, we need to ask you a few questions, if that's ok?" Stetler asked walking over to where she was sitting up in bed.

"No, that's not ok!" Eric spat angrily, "don't think she's been through enough?"

"She just shot her own father, we need to speak to her," Stetler argued back.

"Can't it wait a couple of days until she's out of hospital?"

"We'd much rather do this now, Miss Duquesne is an officer of the law and may have just committed murder, it needs to be investigated." Stetler looked at Calleigh, she looked awful, her eyes were dark and her face was covered in cuts and bruises, her wrists had marks from where she had been tied, and there was what looked like a leather belt mark on her neck, she had been thorough a lot, maybe he should have left this a little longer, but he was here now, he may as well speak to her now.

"She did NOT murder anybody, she had no choice, what else was she supposed to do? Let him rape the girl!" Eric was starting to yell at him.

Calleigh was getting nervous, she had known they would want to talk to her, but surely it could have waited, but now it seemed that they were not only after her badge they were going to put her in prison for murder. She needed them to know that there really had been nothing else she could do but Stetler seemed unwilling to listen to anybody anyway, he was just shouting at Eric. Calleigh was so glad Eric was there, she felt so tired all of a sudden, she wanted to stay awake, she wanted to argue her point with Stetler, but for now she was glad Eric was standing up for her, at least she knew she had Eric on her side. She wondered about Horatio and the others, what would they think. Did they think that this had all been her fault? Did they think she had done it for revenge? They hadn't been to see her since she had woken up, granted that had only been a couple of hours ago, but maybe they were avoiding her, maybe they wouldn't believe her. Calleigh was startled as Stetler walked right up to the side of her bed before bombarding her with questions, her head as still hurting, she couldn't keep up with what he was saying, he was speaking so fast, she closed her eyes she just wanted this to go away.

"Leave her alone!" Eric said, pulling Stetler away from Calleigh and pushing him towards the door.

"You will get your hands off me before I arrest you!" Stetler said trying to free himself from Eric's grip.

"Not before you leave, Calleigh will answer your questions when she's out of hospital and you learn to speak in a civilised manner," Eric said pushing him out of the door.

Stetler thought about re-entering, but then decided against it, there was no way he was going to be able to speak with her when Delko was around, he thought maybe he'd come back later when he knew Eric had left, then he might be able to get some answers out of her.

"Thank you," Calleigh said softly as Eric walked over and sat back down next to her, "I don't want to have to deal with him yet."

"It's ok," Eric replied, taking hold of her hand, "you don't have to speak to him."

"I will eventually though, won't I? What am I going to say to him? Does he know everything? He's going to think I did it for revenge, for what my dad did to me, he's not going to believe me."

"He has to believe the evidence Calleigh, whether he likes it or not, and there will be evidence Calleigh, you know that."

"I know, it just seems that he's out to get me, he's going to turn it and make it all my fault." Calleigh yawned; it was obvious she was exhausted; Eric knew she needed to sleep; she'd been through a lot.

"Calleigh please, just forget about Stetler, you need to sleep, how about I leave you for a while, I can go and get you some clothes if you want, or some food, I don't really class this hospital stuff as food." Calleigh smiled.

"Ok, but don't take too long," Calleigh agreed.

"You get some sleep," Eric said, standing up and leaning over to kiss Calleigh softly on the lips, before turning and walking out of the room.

Calleigh leant back and slowly tried to drift to sleep, it was hard, she still had images running through her head, they wouldn't let her rest, they just wouldn't give up. She was in the place half way between being asleep and being awake when the door opened, she opened her eyes and looked at who it was, she couldn't believe it….

* * *

TBC…

Ok, I know this is a little short, but I am trying to keep you guessing, the person might not necessarily be who you think it is! (But you are all very clever and keep guessing what is going to happen next correctly, so you probably have actually worked all of this out anyway!) I'm a little mean, but I did update really fast this is my third update in 3 days, so you should be nice! I will hopefully update again tomorrow, as long as nothing too drastic happens between now and then! If you read this thank you and please review it and let me know what you think! I really appreciate it!

Season 5 of CSI: Miami starts in the UK at 9pm on 17th July, (2 weeks time) I can't wait, I have been looking forward to it so much!


	28. Chapter 28

Yay! I'm on a roll recently 4 chapter in 4 days!

Thanks for all of the reviews! After much thought, I finally decided what was going to happen in this chapter and here it is…

* * *

"Calleigh," Laura said, standing just inside the door, "is it ok if I come in?"

"Of course, take a seat," Calleigh replied pointing at the chair where Eric had just been sat. Calleigh watched as the young girl came in and sat down next to her, Calleigh looked at the girl, she looked well, considering, she had a couple of bruises from what Calleigh could see, one on her face and her wrists were damages where she had also been tied up. Calleigh wondered what she wanted, she already felt incredibly guilty about what had happened to her, if it hadn't been for her Laura would never have been kidnapped in the first place.

"How are you feeling?" Calleigh asked, feeling the need to break the ice, although they had been in that room together for what seemed like an eternity they had never really spoken to each other at all.

"I'm fine, just a few cuts and bruises," Laura replied pointing to a gash on her head. "I actually came to see how you were."

"Oh, I'm fine, they might be letting me go home tomorrow, but really I'm fine. I'm glad you are ok."

"Thanks to you," Laura replied smiling at Calleigh, "if it hadn't been for you I don't want to think what they might have done to me."

"But I didn't do anything; I was just as helpless as you."

"You shot him, you made sure he didn't do anything else, they're all saying that that man was your dad, is that true?"

"Yes, yes it is, he is," Calleigh thought about what she had done again, she had killed her own father; she still couldn't believe she had actually done it.

"I'm sorry," Laura said softly.

"What for?" Calleigh asked, curious as to what the girl was sorry for, she had had no control over anything, she had nothing to be sorry for.

"I made you kill your dad, if I hadn't been there you wouldn't have had to do it."

"It doesn't matter."

"But you killed your dad to save me."

"It's ok, I'm just glad you're alright."

"Yes I'm good," Laura replied, her focus remaining on the ground.

"You're sure?" Calleigh asked; the little girl didn't seem good, she seemed lost in thought; Calleigh just hoped she really was going to be ok; she had been through a lot.

"I was so scared Calleigh, I could feel him touching me, I just wanted it to stop, I tried to stop him, I couldn't I just kept thinking about what he was trying to do, they were all staring at me and laughing, it was horrible."

"I know sweetheart," Calleigh replied leaning over to hold the girls hand.

"They did this to you didn't they, before?"

Calleigh was stunned into silence; this girl had known her all of five minutes and yet had worked out so much more than people that had known her most of her life had ever done on their own. This girl may only have been 12 but she was old for her age, Calleigh hoped it wasn't because of what she had just been through, nobody should be forced to grow up like that, like she had been.

"Um, yes…they did," Calleigh eventually replied quietly, "it was a long time ago."

"When you were my age?"

"Yes."

"Were you scared, when they did it to you?"

"Yes, I was."

"I was scared too."

"It's ok to be scared sometimes, none of what happened was you fault you know that, right?" the girl just nodded slowly, Calleigh continued, "it wasn't, and you must always remember that, ok?" Again the girl just nodded.

"When we were in the room…" Laura stopped for a second, before continuing, "you asked them to hurt you instead, would you really have let them?"

"Yes," Calleigh replied truthfully, "if it had stopped them hurting you."

"Thank you," Laura said, standing up before leaning over to hug Calleigh. Calleigh hugged her back, stroking her hair softly.

Eventually the door to Calleigh's room opened again and Laura's mom was standing there looking at the two of them, Laura pulled away from the hug and walked over to her mother, who was walking towards Calleigh.

"You saved my daughter, thank you," she said, hugging Laura tightly, "thank you so much," she repeated before turning and walking with Laura out of the room.

Calleigh was left alone with her thoughts again, maybe she had been right to do what she did, maybe it really hadn't been all her fault, she was so glad Laura was ok, that made her feel better inside, as if what she had done had now been justified. She thought about Laura, at least she'd be able to go home and she'd have her mother to look after her, and Calleigh knew her mom would take good care of her, Laura would have someone to talk to if she needed it, Calleigh was pleased about that, she seemed like a good kid, and she would need somebody to talk to, eventually.

Calleigh felt herself slowly begin to drift asleep when she heard the door open again, she so hoped it wasn't the nurse, she had just got comfortable and the just the thought of having to move exhausted her. She opened her eyes and looked to see Eric standing there beside her bed. Eric saw her open her eyes, glad that she had got some sleep whilst he'd been away, although she still looked tired.

"Hey, you have a nice sleep?" he asked her, kissing her lightly on the forehead before sitting down beside her.

"Um, yeah," Calleigh lied, she didn't want him to leave so that she would sleep again, he hadn't been gone long but she had missed him.

"I got you a few things for the night and some clothes to wear tomorrow if they do decide to let you out of here."

"Thank you," Calleigh replied.

"Um Cal," Eric said, unsure of how to broach this topic.

"Yes."

"When I was at your apartment, the phone rang and I answered it, it was Mike, he wanted to know if we had arrived safely, I kind of had to tell him everything, he says he's going to come down with Dave and your mom for the funeral, seeing as you won't be able to travel there."

"Oh," was all Calleigh could reply, she knew they would find out eventually but she had thought she might have had a bit more time to prepare, be ready for them when they did arrive, this was all happening a bit fast. Her father hadn't even been autopsied yet, Calleigh hadn't even begun to think about a funeral, another one she was going to have to arrange in as many weeks, this was just too much.

"It's ok," Eric reassured, he sensed her wariness, he knew she was tired and had had a lot to deal with recently, "I'll help and I'm sure Mike and Dave will when they get here too."

"Thanks," Calleigh said yawning.

"Get some sleep Calleigh, you really need to rest right now, everything else can wait until tomorrow."

Calleigh knew she should sleep, but now she had to think about what her mom was going to say to her when arrived, she hadn't even thought about the funeral, and then there was IAB, she still had to speak to them, her mind was racing so fast, but eventually it gave in and sleep claimed her.

* * *

TBC…

Thanks for reading, that was quite a nice chapter, sort of, see I'm not mean all of time!

If you read this please review, reviews make me happy and keep me writing!

I'll update soon!


	29. Chapter 29

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I really appreciate them! Here's chapter 29…

* * *

Eric had let himself fall asleep once he was sure that Calleigh was definitely asleep, he rested his head on the bed and kept hold of her hand, this way he would know if she went anywhere. He was suddenly awoken by something vibrating in his pocket and realised that his phone was ringing, he stood up quickly, careful not to wake Calleigh and then left the room answered the phone.

"Horatio," he said after checking caller ID.

"Eric, are you still at the hospital with Calleigh?" Horatio asked.

"Um… yeah, she's asleep at the moment."

"Good, do we know when she's being released?"

"The doctor said maybe tomorrow," he looked at his watch, amazed by how much time had passed, "no, I mean today, later today."

"Ok, I heard she got a visit from Stetler."

"Yeah, he came in, but I told him she wasn't well enough to speak to him yet, I'm sure when he finds out she's been released he'll be all over her."

"Yes, well let's try and keep him out of the picture for as long as possible, ok?"

"Um, yeah," Eric agreed, "I'll call you later; let you know what is happening."

"Thanks." Horatio said before hanging up.

Eric walked back into Calleigh's hospital room. She was awake.

"Hey," she said as he entered the room, "did you go home? Did you get some sleep?"

"No, I stayed here and got some sleep," he smiled at her, "I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'd have been fine if you had left me!"

"Yes, but I just wanted to make sure," Eric said, "besides that chair is actually quite comfy!"

"Is there a doctor out there?" Calleigh said pointing out of the door to where Eric had just been, "I want to know if they're going to let me out of here any time soon."

"I'll go and find out," Eric said before leaving the room in search of doctor, he wasn't sure Calleigh should be released just yet. She still had bad bruises and a couple of broken ribs, but the doctors had said there was nothing more they could do for her, so she may as well go home and rest there. Eric wanted her to stay, at least here if something did go wrong she'd be with the people who could help her, he wouldn't know what to do. Also, if she stayed at the hospital, IAB wouldn't be able to get near enough to her to try and interrogate her about what had happened recently.

Calleigh managed to sit up in bed, despite the fact that it did hurt, she wanted to feel better, she wanted to look better so that they would let her go home. She reached for a hairbrush that Eric had brought her along with some other things that she would need in order to get ready, and began brushing her hair. She wanted to look half decent when she left, she also grabbed some make-up and a hand mirror and began applying that, she was going home today, if the doctors didn't release her, she'd sign the papers herself. She hated hospitals.

After about ten minutes Eric reappeared with a doctor.

"Mr Delko tells me you want to go home today," she said as she walked in.

"Yes!" Calleigh said, a little over excited at the prospect,"can I?"

"Well, you do seem to be doing a lot better than when you arrived, but I would really like to keep you in one more night for observation."

""I'll be fine," Calleigh argued, "I feel much better, and if something happens I can always come back, Eric will bring me."

"Well, I'd still rather you were here."

"Please, I won't do anything, I'll just rest, like that other doctor said, I will."

"Ok, but you are to do nothing but rest ok," she said walking over to Calleigh and handing her some papers and a bottle, "take two of these twice a day for the pain, and get this lovely boyfriend of yours to run around after you, ok?"

"Yes, I will!" Calleigh said and the doctor left the room. Calleigh jumped out of bed, but she ended up sitting back down slowly as the pain in her ribs became too much.

"Calleigh, are you ok?" Eric asked, concerned.

"Yes, just a little sore," she said rubbing her ribs.

"Let me help," Eric said walking over to her and helping her stand up.

After another twenty minutes Calleigh and Eric both walked out of the hospital after Eric had helped her get ready, she was glad he was there; she could hardly lift her arms above her head which made getting dressed a little difficult. They jumped in a cab and Eric directed the driver to Calleigh's apartment, when they arrived, Eric paid the driver and helped Calleigh to her front door. Calleigh opened the door and Eric helped her to the couch where he sat her down.

"Do you want a drink or something to eat?" He asked walking toward the kitchen.

"No thanks, I'm ok I had some breakfast at the hospital."

"I bet it didn't taste very nice!" He smiled, "I'll make you something if you want."

"No, honestly I'm fine, maybe later."

"Ok, then what do you want to do?"

"I thought the doctor said I wasn't slowed to do anything."

"No, she said you're not supposed to move, so you can stay on the couch, but we can watch a film or play a board game or something?"

"A board game?!" Calleigh laughed.

"Why not? It's the ideal way to keep people entertained for hours!" Eric smiled.

"I think a movie would be safer," Calleigh smiled, "besides, I don't have any board games!"

"Hey! I happened to think a board game was a good idea! So I don't know why you are laughing!"

"I never play board games, it just seemed like an odd idea, but I really do think we should stick with a movie."

"Ok, what do you want to watch?"

"I don't mind," Calleigh said, "I chose to watch a movie so you can pick which one."

"Ok," Eric said walking over to her DVD collection, "you don't have a very big choice!"

"Well I'm never in the house, when do you expect me to watch DVD's!" she laughed.

"I don't know, but most people have more than five DVD's!"

"Well I don't, so you will just have to choose one of those."

"Ok, well I guess Pirates of the Caribbean was a good film, we can watch that."

"Ok whatever," Calleigh said.

"This is only the first one, have you not seen the others?" He asked.

"No, I've been busy!"

"Ok, well I'll have to get them for you, they're good and it'll give you something to watch whilst you're resting. Anyway, here we go," he finished sitting back up on the couch at the opposite end to the end Calleigh was sat. Calleigh noticed this and swung her entire body around so that her body was lying against his and her head was resting on his chest. Eric wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her to him, he was so lucky to have her and he was reminded in that moment just how much he loved and hugged her closer as the film began.

The film passed quickly, as it ended Eric looked down at Calleigh and realised she had fallen asleep, he was glad, she needed her sleep. He just watched her sleep, she looked so peaceful, he slowly began stroking her hair, he loved the way it felt between his fingers. Eric jumped as the doorbell rang. He looked down at Calleigh, who was now also wide awake.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"I don't know I don't have X-ray vision, Cal!" he answered laughing.

"Oh, haha!" she said, "go and find out."

"Yes Miss!" Eric moved and stood up pushing cushions where he had just been sat so Calleigh didn't have to move.

Calleigh watched as he walked over to the door and opened it, she watched him talk to someone before opening the door further; she sat up more to see who it was.

"Hello Calleigh."

"Mom…." Calleigh replied, looking at her mother across the room, shocked she'd got here so soon.

* * *

TBC…

Thank you for reading this! I know not very much happened in this chapter, but it was kind of happy! Please review!

I have a confession to make, I'm going on holiday to Gran Canaria tomorrow for a week, so I won't be able to update for a week, but I will update as soon as I get back, I promise, I'm sorry, please don't kill me!


	30. Chapter 30

Thanks for all of your reviews! I'm back off my holiday I had a great time! Here's the next chapter, this may seem a little weird or something, I don't know, it feels like ages since I last updated, it's like I forgot how to write! Anyway, here you go…

* * *

Calleigh watched as her mother walked across the room, how had she got here so fast? Why was she here now? It was late; surely anything she had to say could wait until the morning.

"Calleigh," her mother said, walking in front of Calleigh and sitting down on the table in front of the sofa. Calleigh could smell the alcohol on her breath from where she was lying.

"Mom, what do you want?"

"You killed him! After everything he has been through recently, you killed him!"

"I had to mom! He was going to…."

"I don't care!" her mom shouted back, "I don't want to listen to any more of your lies!"

"I'm not lying!"

Eric walked back over to where Calleigh was sitting and sat down next to her, he didn't want her to move, she was still injured and was not supposed to move, Eric hoped her mom didn't wind her up enough to make her move. Eric could see this was not going to happen.

"Mrs Robinson," Eric started, trying to diffuse the situation, "maybe you could come back tomorrow and we could discuss this then, Calleigh needs to rest, she's badly injured."

"I wasn't talking to you!" she yelled back at Eric, "I was talking to my daughter, so I don't know what you are doing here anyway! Maybe you should leave!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Eric shouted, "Calleigh invited me into her apartment, which is more than can be said for you, you walk in here and start shouting at her, she did nothing wrong, your husband was an evil bastard! I think it's time you left!"

Calleigh just wanted her mom to leave, she didn't feel up to talking to her mother when she was like this, she was drunk and Calleigh didn't have the energy to fight with her right now, she was so tired, she just wanted to sleep. Why did her mom have to ruin everything? Everything had been fine until she had turned up and now, she was beginning to doubt herself. She had gone over everything time after time in her head and she knew in her heart there was nothing else she could have done, but everyone seemed to want this to be her fault, everyone seemed to blame her, IAB, her mother, she wondered just how many other people believed that too. Maybe her friends, her colleagues at work, maybe none of them believed her; maybe they all thought she was a murderer too. How was she supposed to convince them that there really had been nothing else she could have done?

"Mom," Calleigh said, her tone softening, "why don't you come back tomorrow, I'll tell you anything you want, I'm really tired, please mom, go back to your hotel, drink it off and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"No! I want to talk to you now! You killed your own father! You cold hearted bitch!" Her mom yelled, standing up and nearly falling over into the table due to the drink.

"I think you should leave," Eric said walking over to the woman and trying to help her to the door, "where are you staying? I can get you a cab."

"I don't know," her mother replied, "um, the boys said they'd be down tomorrow, I was supposed to find somewhere to stay for us all when they arrived, but I forgot."

Calleigh stood up, and struggled to walk over to her mother, where Eric was trying to escort her out of the door. She took hold of her mom's hand.

"Mom, it's ok. You can stay here tonight, we'll find you somewhere to stay tomorrow, ok?" Calleigh began to lead her mother toward her spare bedroom, Calleigh's entire body ached, her muscles wanted to give up, she was glad when Eric took over and led her mom to the room and she helped as he lay her down on the bed. Calleigh removed her shoes and pulled the covers over her placing a light kiss on the top of her mom's head.

Eric watched in amazement. It was as if Calleigh had forgotten her mother had said to her, she had called her a murderer, blamed her, when she really had had no choice. Calleigh was treating her mother like he would treat his, only his would never get drunk and treat anyone, let alone her own daughter, the way Calleigh's mother had just treated her. Eric walked back out of the room behind Calleigh who turned off the light in the room.

"She's asleep," Calleigh whispered, limping as she made her way into her bedroom.

"Why'd you let her stay?" Eric asked her.

"What else was I supposed to do? She's too drunk to find anywhere by herself, and she'd get herself killed if she went out there by herself now, she doesn't know her way around, we'll find her and Mike and Dave somewhere to stay tomorrow after she'd slept it off."

"You're amazing," Eric said, walking over and helping her sit down on the bed, he stroked her face, brushing a stray hair back out of her face.

"I'm tired," Calleigh said, yawning. Eric helped her get dressed before helping her lie back onto the bed and covering up, the same way she had done for her mother. He kissed her lightly on the lips and Calleigh pulled him down onto the bed, he landed on the bed and rolled onto his side so that he didn't land on top of her. She rolled over and made herself comfortable against his chest. Eric didn't bother undressing, he was tired himself and just wanted to hold Calleigh as she slept, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He knew that tomorrow Calleigh would have a lot to deal with, her brothers would turn up, her mom would want her answers and she still had IAB to deal with.

* * *

TBC…

Thanks for reading this! I know it was a little slow, but I haven't written for over a week, I know that doesn't seem long but it feels like a lifetime! I'm getting back into the story! I'll update as soon as possible. Please review this if you read it, it's polite!

I'm in a very good mood! Season 5 of CSI: Miami just started here tonight and I just watched it! Yay! It put me in the mood for writing this!


	31. Chapter 31

Thanks for all of your reviews! I'm sorry this took longer than I thought it would! The next instalment should be quicker! Here you go…

* * *

Calleigh was woken up as the light from outside began shinning in through the window, she felt Eric's arms still wrapped around her and enjoyed feeling safe because of this. She looked out of the window and could see the sun shining, she felt happy, she knew this felt weird and then thought back over the past few day's events and suddenly the happiness was gone. Calleigh remembered that her mom was still here and that her brothers would be turning up again some time soon. She rolled over away from Eric, she didn't want to but she was really hot and also wanted to know what time it was, as she rolled her shoulder ached and pain shot from her shoulder all around her body. She was glad that the bullet had only hit her shoulder, although it hurt like hell at the time, there was no questioning that it could have been a hell of a lot worse than it was, she was lucky to be alive, although it didn't always feel that way especially with everybody questioning her and blaming her for what happened.

Calleigh noted the time, it was half past six, and decided to get up. There was no way she would sleep any more, her mind was working overtime and although she would love to spend the day lying next to Eric, there was no way that was going to happen so she may as well just get used to that idea. She stumbled toward the bathroom, her entire body was stiff from the beating she had received and although she was feeling better all in all, it was always worse in the mornings, she hadn't moved for hours and it was like the muscles had seized up.

After taking a long shower she made her way back to her bedroom, poking her head into the spare room on her way to make sure that her mom was still asleep, she was. When she reached her room, she walked in slowly and was surprised to find Eric standing there, she had expected him to still be asleep.

"Hey," she said, smiling at him.

"Hey," her replied, "how are you feeling today?" he was glad to see she was moving around on her own, even if it was only slowly, it meant she must be in less pain than she had been yesterday.

"Better," she said, walking over to the dresser and beginning to get changed.

"Good," he replied, walking over to her. She was stood facing the mirror and he came up behind her and hugged her waist, he swept her hair away and kissed her neck lightly, she smiled.

"Mom's still asleep," Calleigh said, changing the tone of the moment.

"Oh," was all Eric could reply, what was he supposed to say to that?

"We'll have to find somewhere else for her and the boys to stay when they turn up," Calleigh said as she began brushing her hair.

"Yes." Eric took hold of the brush and began brushing her hair for her, he loved how soft and smooth it was.

"I don't know what time they'll turn up, it could be any time today, I assume they'll turn up here as mom didn't get a hotel. Maybe I should ring around a few this morning, see if any have vacancies, and we'll also have to start arranging the funeral."

"Yes," Eric said again, "I can help you with that, you're not on your own Calleigh, you're not even close."

"Thank you," Calleigh said, turning around and kissing him on the lips, Eric moved to make the kiss deeper, but Calleigh pulled away, "I love you."

"I love you too." Eric replied.

"Let's get dressed, I'm sure my mom will be up soon and then the barrage of questions is bound to happen," Calleigh said, laughing slightly.

"You had to do it Cal," Eric said, reassuring her, "don't ever doubt yourself, ok?"

"Thanks Eric, I know that now."

They both continued to get ready in silence, Eric started making some breakfast when he was ready and Calleigh then walked into the kitchen.

"What are you making me?"

"Pancakes," he replied smiling, he knew that was her favourite.

"Good," Calleigh said smiling.

"Will your mom want any?"

"Probably not, she doesn't normally have breakfast, well she never used to anyway, I used to make pancakes for the boys when we were younger, they always loved breakfast time. It was the time in our house when we had it to ourselves, normally mom and dad would still be asleep and we could all relax."

"I'm glad you got a reprieve," Eric replied, so glad there had been times when she didn't have to put up with her parents, times when she could just be without them, even if only for an hour. He was sure she would have thought about them but at least they had left her alone for a while, it must have made it slightly more bearable.

"Yes," Calleigh replied quietly.

There was a sound from behind them and both Calleigh and Eric turned to find her mom standing there behind them, her clothes all creased from her sleeping in them and her hair was a mess.

"Calleigh," was all she said, standing there looking at the two of them.

"Mom, you're awake." Calleigh didn't seem too pleased about this, Eric could understand this, the longer she slept the longer Calleigh got without having to answer her questions.

"Yes," she said walking over to the cupboards and opening them, "have you not got any drink in this house?" she asked, opening more cupboards.

"No, mom," Calleigh said rolling her eyes, "I don't drink."

Eric knew this about her, she had never drunk the whole time he had known her, it was only recently he had learned why, he had never really questioned it before.

"Well you should keep some for guests," her mother argued, "you know I always like a drink when I wake up in the morning."

"Yes, well…I hadn't been expecting you to stay when I last went shopping," Calleigh said, becoming increasingly annoyed with her mother.

Eric could see Calleigh was angry with her mom, he understood why; she had just turned up on Calleigh's doorstop and expected her to let her in despite the fact that even as she arrived she treated Calleigh like she was criminal rather than her own daughter. And now, she was complaining that her 'needs' weren't being catered for! She was unbelievable!

The argument was interrupted by a knock at the door, Calleigh walked over and opened it and was almost trampled on as her brothers hugged her. Calleigh winced as Mike squeezed her shoulder a little too hard.

"Are you ok?" he asked noticing this.

"I'm fine just a little sore, that's all."

"He actually shot you?" Dave asked, amazed.

"Yes, just in the shoulder, but the doctor said it'll be fine in a couple of weeks."

"You killed dad?" Mike asked, although it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," Calleigh replied, "I had to." Calleigh hoped Mike would understand, surely of everybody if he didn't understand then she didn't have a leg to stand on as it were. "He had that girl, they were going to hurt her, if I hadn't done something then she would have suffered."

"It's ok Calleigh, I understand." Mike really did, he had watched her suffer enough times to know how hard it was to see someone go through something like that and feel helpless to do anything about it. He had wanted to kill his father enough times himself; if he had had a gun at the time he knew he would have used it. He remembered the time he walked into Calleigh's room after he raped her the first time, Calleigh was the one who had stopped him killing their father right then and there that night and now she knew how much he had wanted it back then and she had actually done it.

"She killed him!" their mother appeared from the kitchen, "she killed your father!"

"Mom!" Mike interrupted, he didn't want to have to listen to this, he understood Calleigh, he knew why she had done it, he also knew Calleigh didn't need to listen to this, she needed to believe she had no other options, it was the truth.

"No!" she argued back, "she didn't need to do that. It's not true!"

"I've had enough of this!" Calleigh yelled back, the strain on her lungs, caused her to wince in pain. "I'm going to work; I want you out by the time I get home!"

Calleigh walked out slamming the door behind her, she just wanted to get out leave them all behind, leave her past behind. Her whole body was still aching, but she just kept walking.

Eric watched Calleigh leave, he walked right after the door after her, he left her mom and brothers behind, they could argue between themselves, he didn't care. He caught up with Calleigh at her car.

"Calleigh stop!" he said, putting his hand on the car door so she couldn't open it, "you can't go to work, your not supposed to move, you're supposed to rest."

"I don't want to rest!" Calleigh argued, "and I'm not going to get any rest with that lot at home."

"Calleigh, we'll go to my place, anywhere, just not work."

"I want to go to work, see how the rest of the investigation is going, Horatio should be interviewing the rest of the men."

"Cal, you don't need to go there, you don't need to see that, Horatio will sort it."

"I'm going to work," Calleigh argued, "it's up to you whether or not you come or not."

"OK ok I'm coming," Eric said, walking around to the passenger side of the car and climbing in.

The drive to the lab was quiet; neither of them said anything, neither of them needed to. They both knew what the other needed, and in that moment it was time, time to think, time to get used to ideas, go over things in their heads, get things straight.

When they arrived at the lab, they both walked in, the got in the lift and Eric pushed the button.

"It'll be ok, Cal, I'm sure."

"I hope so," Calleigh said, "I just want it all to be over."

"It will be," Eric walked over to Calleigh, he leant down and kissed her lightly on the lips, "you'll see."

They moved apart as the lift stopped, the doors opened, and the both just stood there as standing there at the entrance was Stetler.

"Miss Duquesne," he said, "glad to see you're feeling better, I think it's time for a little chat..."

* * *

TBC…

Thanks for reading! Please review, they keep me writing. I'll update as soon as possible.

I wrote a side story to this about Calleigh having a flash back to what was on the videos, but I read it and it made me seem incredibly twisted! So I'm not going to post it!


	32. Chapter 32

Thank you so much for your reviews I really appreciate them! Sorry this took longer than I thought to update, I was reading Harry Potter, which I have now finished, I have also been decorating my bedroom so I have been a little busy, but this chapter is longer than usual, so enjoy…

(I'm sorry if this is a little confusing as to who is where!)

* * *

Eric stepped in front of Calleigh as if to protect her from Stetler, how dare he show his face now, she had only been out of hospital for a couple of days she was only here to escape a barrage of questions in her own home, why should she have to come to work and face the same?

"She's not up to it yet," Eric stated.

"Well she's back at work," supplied Stetler, "and if she's well enough to be back here, then she's well enough to answer our questions isn't she?"

"But…" Eric started.

"Miss Duquesne, would you please follow us," Stetler said, turning around with his other two agents and making his way into the nearest interrogation room.

Calleigh didn't know what else to do, so she followed Stetler and the other men into the room. Eric tried to follow them but one of the men looked at him and shook his head, "she's on her own for this."

"Well at least let me watch," said Eric not entirely sure that he wanted to, but he knew he had to be there for Calleigh, even if not in person. Stetler heard this and turned around.

"If you must, but do not even think about interrupting," said Stetler.

"Ok." Eric walked into the room adjacent to the interview room and was followed by one of the IAB investigators who had been with Stetler. Eric watched as Calleigh sat at one side of the table and Stetler and the other guy sat on the other.

"This shouldn't take too long Miss Duquesne, it's just a few questions about what happened the night your father was killed."

Calleigh nodded.

"You went to go and find your father last week didn't you?"

"No," Calleigh started, "I was looking for the girl, Laura, they had kidnapped her I didn't even know my father had anything to do with it."

"But you had just been home to Louisiana for you Brother's funeral, is that correct?"

"Yes," Calleigh answered.

"And whilst you were there you saw your father, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And Mr Delko, who is also a CSI in this lab, was arrested for assaulting your father, is that correct?"

"Yes, but…" Calleigh was cut off as Stetler continued to speak.

"And the charges were dropped, do you know why this is?"

"No." Calleigh lied.

"Is it also true that whilst you were in Louisiana, some secrets from your past concerning your father were uncovered?"

"What has this got to do with anything?" Calleigh asked, slightly annoyed at the direction this was taking, this was supposed to be about whether or not she had had to kill her father, none of what had happened in Louisiana or her past was relevant.

"Answer the question, Miss Duquesne," Stetler glared at her.

"Um, yes," Calleigh replied.

Eric watched on horrified, surely they couldn't believe Calleigh had killed her father in revenge, she had been blaming herself for killing him for so long, she was just beginning to get past it and now Stetler was trying to convince her it had been her fault, he just hoped Calleigh remained strong enough and didn't break, he desperately wanted to be with her.

Eric turned and saw Horatio walk into the room he was standing in along with Alex, no one said anything and just turned and looked through the glass as Stetler continued to question Calleigh.

"Is it true that during your childhood your father abused you, both physically and sexually?"

Calleigh didn't answer, she was desperately trying to stop the tears from falling, she couldn't cry especially not in here.

"Is it true?" Stetler said his voice getting louder.

Calleigh nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak.

"How did this make you feel?"

Calleigh again didn't say anything, there was no way she would answer the question, she didn't even know the answer properly herself, and even if she did, this was private, it had been hard enough telling Eric and then the others finding out, she was not going to spill her heart out to Stetler and his little friend. No matter how hard they pushed. She just shrugged.

"Did you want to punish your father?"

Calleigh again didn't know what to say. How could she explain that one minute she hated her father for what he had done and the next minute she loved him anyway? That sometimes she'd wanted to kill him and sometimes she didn't. How could she explain all of this, when they had already made up their minds that she was guilty?

"Miss Duquesne, please answer the question."

"Sometimes," Calleigh replied softly, "yes, sometimes I wanted to punish him."

"Is it true, that you found out your father was in Miami by some unknown tip and then decided to hunt him down so that you could kill him, get revenge?"

"No, that is not true," Calleigh replied much more strongly than she had previously.

"Miss Duquesne, we found some evidence of what your father did to you."

Calleigh knew he meant the videos, what else could he mean? What was she supposed to say? It wasn't like they proved anything she hadn't already admitted.

"It was very brutal; he and his friends were evil."

Calleigh didn't reply, if she agreed with them then it would make her look guilty, he was trying to get her to admit they were evil, he was trying to convince her that he agreed with what she had done so that she would admit to it, she had used the trick enough times herself, there was no way she was going to fall for it.

"I'll ask you again, did you or did you not go searching for your father in order to exact some revenge for what he had done to you?"

"I did not." Calleigh replied not elaborating on her answer.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Stetler leant over to press a button on the TV monitor in the room, it was positioned so that Calleigh, himself and the other agent could see it was well as anybody behind the glass. An image flickered onto the screen.

Eric saw this and wanted to kill Stetler himself, how could he put this video on in front of her, the agent sat beside Stetler looked horrified at what he was seeing. Alex was stood beside Eric, she thought she was going to be sick, she had to hold on to the counter in front of her in order to stop herself passing out. She had done autopsies on children who had been abused before and it always broke her heart, but to actually see this abuse happening, and to somebody she knew she felt dizzy. Her kids were similar ages to what Calleigh must have been at the time this video was made, her stomach twisted, she was so angry with Stetler.

Eric turned away from looking at the screen, he saw Horatio who was also looking at him. Eric turned towards the door into the room in which Calleigh was sat and tried to open it but was stopped by the other IAB agent in the room with them.

"They can't to this to her," Eric argued, "it's not fair. Can't you see what they're doing to her, she'll say anything just to make them turn the videos off, even if it means a full false confession."

The agent just stared at Eric and remained where he was, preventing Eric from entering the room to turn off the video himself.

Inside the room Calleigh just stared at the video, why was he doing this to her? Why was he so convinced she was guilty? What had she done that was so wrong? Why did nobody believe that she had had to do what she did?

"Turn it off," Calleigh said quietly, when this did not happen she repeated it louder, "PLEASE! TURN IT OFF!"

Stetler ignored this request and left the video running as he continued to question her.

"Miss Duquesne, are you sure you didn't want to hurt your father the way he had hurt you."

Calleigh thought this question was stupid, she had not hurt her father like this, she had just killed him, sometimes she thought, her father would have hurt her less if he had just killed her, she wouldn't have to live with what he had done to her, she wouldn't have to have the nightmares every night of her life.

"No," she replied.

"But this," Stetler said pointing at the video, "is brutal, if someone had done this to me then I would want revenge."

"I didn't." Calleigh stated, she was desperately trying not to look at the videos, but it was like she was drawn to them, she couldn't help it, she had to look.

"How about this?" Stetler said stopping the video and removing it before inserting another one into the player and pressing play. "Did you want revenge for this?"

Calleigh looked at the video, it had been made slightly later, and was when her father had invited all of his friends round, she watched, she could still remember how it felt, how much it had hurt, how helpless and lonely she had felt, she hated Stetler so much in that moment, even more than she did her father. Her father had had some twisted logic, in his head he had thought that what he had done was right. Stetler was a police officer, he knew what he was doing wasn't but he was doing it anyway, Calleigh was sure this made him worse. She asked again.

"Please turn it off."

Inside the room onlooking the interview, Eric was going crazy, he had seen more than enough of these videos last time he had seen them, he could see tears streaming down Alex's face beside him, he knew Calleigh would crack if she had to look at those videos anymore, he tried again to push past the agent guarding the door into the room, he couldn't.

Calleigh was still sat inside the room, tears were welling up in her eyes as she heard the screams from the video, her screams, her cries for them to stop and they didn't. She felt much the same way now, she reached over to stop the video but Stetler stopped her.

"Miss Duquesne, you need to answer my questions honestly, did you kill you father in revenge for this?" He said pointing at the TV.

"No, I didn't." Calleigh said, "I went looking for Laura, the phone call was from John Talbot, he said that he had Laura and that if I wanted to see her alive I had to go and meet him alone at the address her gave me."

"And you did this?" Stetler asked, beginning to listen to her story, "why didn't you call for back-up?"

"He said that I had to go alone or he would kill her, I did what I thought was best."

"And when you arrived what happened?"

"My father was there, I didn't know he would be, they kept hitting me and then tied me up, they were going to rape me, I begged them not to," Calleigh was crying now.

Eric, Horatio and Alex were all in tears as well, watching Calleigh go through this broke their hearts, surely she had been through enough already?

"Then what happened?" Stetler asked.

"They said that they wouldn't attack me and moved me to tie me to the radiator, then they brought Laura in and tied her to the bed where I had just been lying, there was nothing I could do. They said that as they couldn't have me, they'd have her instead, I begged them to hurt me instead but they refused they said they'd have more fun this way."

Stetler didn't look at all like he was listening to her, "Then what happened?"

"I saw the gun, I tried to reach it, I was stretching out as far as I could with my wrists tied. Eventually I grabbed it and then I pointed it at my father who was on top of Laura and pulled the trigger, I was also shot although I don't remember which happened first it all happened so fast."

"So you say you didn't go there in order to look for your father and insist that you went to look for this girl, Laura."

"Yes," Calleigh replied, hoping she was finally getting through to him.

Calleigh glanced at the video which was still playing beside her and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Please turn it off!" she begged.

"Ok," Stetler replied, switching off the video, "we'll speak to the other witnesses that were in the room at the time and then look at the evidence, then we will get back to you with our decision as to whether or not we take any further action against you."

"Ok," Calleigh replied quietly.

"You may go." Stetler said pointing towards the door.

Calleigh stood up and walked out of the room, Eric was standing there and she threw herself into his arms. Eric held her until she stopped shaking, so glad that at least that was over for her now.

Horatio who had watched the entire thing made a note to report Stetler for his behaviour during that interview, there was no way he should have even been allowed to see those videos, least of all use them during and interview with a victim. He watched as Eric comforted Calleigh, there was no way Stetler was going to get away with what he had just done.

Alex walked away from the room in tears, she had heard about the videos and knew Calleigh had been watching them previously but to actually have seen them made her wish she could have killed Calleigh's father herself, what he had done had been truly sickening. She needed to get away from there, just away from that place, that moment. She'd speak with Calleigh later.

Eric and Calleigh began walking away from the corridor and made their way into the break room where Eric sat her down before making her a drink. She was shaken, that much was obvious, Eric hated Stetler with a passion at the moment and if he got anywhere near him he was sure he'd be sent down for murder. He passed Calleigh her drink and then sat down next to her, he put one arm around her and she leaned into his touch, he had promised not to let anyone hut her, now he had failed, again.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I apologise again if it was a little confusing, I was trying to get everybody into it, and don't normally do scenes with this many people! Thanks again for reading and if you read it please please review! Thank you! I'll update soon! 


	33. Chapter 33

Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I know I said I'd update really quick, it had been 3 whole days on for that I apologise, but I am trying! Thanks to paramedic for some help with this chapter, so here you go…

* * *

Calleigh remained where she was, she enjoyed the feeling of being in Eric's arms, she was safe. She wanted to forget about Stetler, she hated him so much, he had put those pictures back in her head, she didn't want them there, not anymore.

"Thanks Eric," Calleigh said, moving slightly so that she wasn't leaning on him as much and so that she could look up at his face.

"What for?" Eric asked.

"Being here, Stetler just...he just surprised me, I didn't expect him to be here when I got here and then he put those videos on, I just…."

"It's ok," Eric tried to comfort her, he was still so mad with Stetler, why had he done that? Calleigh had done nothing wrong.

"It's just, I didn't expect him to do that, put those videos on," Calleigh started, "I know I was watching them before, but that was different, I had to. When he put them on I didn't want to look, but I just couldn't help it, it was like being back there with them, like I hadn't escaped. It hurt." Tears were streaming down her face, and Eric reached over to wipe them away, she continued. "Stetler didn't have to put the videos on, I told him everything, I didn't have a choice in what I did, I was telling the truth, why didn't he believe me?"

"I don't know," Eric replied truthfully, "he won't get away with what he did, it was wrong he should never have used those videos in an interview with you, it was completely unethical."

"Eric, what if they don't believe me," Calleigh said quietly, "I'll loose my job, I'll loose everything, they could put me in prison for murder."

"Calleigh, it won't come to that, you acted in self defence, they can't argue with that, they'll be evidence that supports you, you know that."

"I suppose," Calleigh agreed, although she didn't sound convinced.

* * *

Horatio followed Stetler as he left the interview room.

"Hey, Rick," he said, walking toward him, speeding up so that he caught up with him.

"Horatio, what do you want?"

"How dare you treat one of my CSI's the way you just treated Calleigh."

"I was doing my job, she is under investigation for murder."

"Why did you show her the videos? You didn't need to do that."

"I'll do what ever it takes," Stetler replied.

"Even if that means trying to force a false confession out of her?"

"That wasn't what I was trying to do," Stetler argued, "that is legitimate evidence against Miss Duquesne, we just showed her what evidence we had against her."

"That isn't evidence against her, " Horatio started, "evidence against her father, yes, but not her, those videos are of her being abused, there she is a victim, there was no need for you to do that to her, she doesn't need to relive that part of her life."

"They were evidence of motive, she wanted revenge."

"You don't believe that anymore than I do, so why show her the videos? Was it you, do you enjoy watching them? Is that what turns you on? Are you as bad as her father was?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Stetler argued, "I'm not like that, you're just angry that your CSI is under investigation, I think you should go and cool off, before you say something you might regret, you never know I might have to start investigating you."

Horatio desperately wanted to argue with him, but he realised that that would be playing right into his hands, Stetler wanted him to retaliate, he wanted to fight with him, he was just after another reason to investigate the lab, Horatio wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. He turned and walked away from him.

* * *

Calleigh and Eric left the break room together, Calleigh had decided that she felt better and just wanted to get back to work, she wanted to put all of this behind her and start moving on with her life. They both rounded the corner and stopped from the shock of what stood in front of them, Calleigh managed to speak, despite her shock.

"Mom," she said slowly, "what are you doing here?" her mother and her two brothers were standing just inside the door, her brothers clearly didn't want to be here.

"Well, you left in such a hurry this morning we didn't get the chance to talk about anything, the funeral still needs arranging," her mom snapped.

Eric stood watching as Calleigh's mom started this argument, he still couldn't believe this woman, she seemed to think she was better, more important than everyone else, when as far as Eric was concerned she was so much worse, she had stood by whilst her husband had done unthinkable thinks to their own daughter, what kind of woman did that make her?

"Look," Calleigh said, "we'll sort this when I have finished work, you go and find a hotel and I'll call you later and we can arrange the funeral for in a couple of days time, we'll talk later."

"No! we'll talk now! You were very keen to start arranging Joe's funeral when he died, does your father not warrant the same courtesy?"

"Mom…" Mike started trying to stop her, he knew Calleigh had been through enough anymore, she didn't need this, he had only agreed to come to Calleigh's work to make sure his mom didn't go too far, but then again, he had no way of stopping her. She continued her rant…

"Anyone would think you're glad he's dead, after all you were the one that killed him!"

"How dare you!" Calleigh argued back,"I had to do what I did and you know it! Yes, I am glad he's dead! I hated that man so much! He ruined my life!"

"All he ever did was love you!"

"Love me?! You make me sick! You're just as bad as he was!" Calleigh stopped, she seemed to realised where she was and continued more quietly, "mom, I'll talk to you later, I don't want to do this now."

"I don't care! We need to sort his funeral and I want to do it now, he deserves a good send off."

"Well you can sort it on your own then! I don't care!" Calleigh started to walk off.

Eric was joined as Alex walked into the building and stood next to him, she'd heard the argument as she had been approaching, and couldn't believe this woman.

"Calleigh Robinson, get back here!"

Calleigh turned around, "I'm not Calleigh Robinson anymore!"

"Your father was right about you!" Her mom argued, "A troublemaker, more hassle than you're worth! Never could stop you could we, always needed a firm hand as your father used to say, it never worked, maybe he was right to do what he did, it was the only way to shut you up!"

Calleigh couldn't reply, her mouth had gone dry; she was replaying her mother's words in her head, had she really deserved it? She knew she hadn't, nobody deserved that, but her mother had put the doubt in her head.

"Mrs Robinson, I think you should leave," Eric said, trying to diffuse the situation, as if this woman truly thought that Calleigh had deserved what her father had done to her, she was sick. Mike and Dave were trying to get their mother to leave, but weren't having much luck.

"Don't you start telling me what to do! This has nothing to do with you!"

"This has everything to do with him mom," Calleigh argued back, "I love him, he's more of a family to me than you ever were! I hate you!"

"How dare you?!" Calleigh's mother walked over to Calleigh and slapped her hard across the face, Calleigh lost her balance but Eric caught her.

"You ruined my life Calleigh, everything was fine until you came along, you were a mistake, I wish I had never had you, I hate you so much!" Calleigh's mother shouted.

Calleigh was in shock, it was the first time her mother had ever hit her, she couldn't cope with this now, she just needed to get away from them all, from everyone, Eric, Alex, Horatio and especially her mother. Calleigh ran to the only place she felt safe, the ballistics lab.

* * *

TBC…

So there you go! Thank you for reading! Please review! They make me very happy! I promise to update as soon is as physically possible!


	34. Chapter 34

Thanks for all of the reviews! This is a little short but I did only last update yesterday! Thanks again to paramedic for help with the idea. Here you go…

* * *

Alex ran off after Calleigh, she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. How could this woman truly believe that what her husband had done to her daughter had been in any way her daughters fault? Alex had seen those videos, seen part of what had been done to Calleigh, they had made her feel sick, the fact that that had happened to someone she had known, not only someone she had known but Calleigh. She had worked with Calleigh for nearly ten years, she had always been so happy and cheerful, and she would never have guessed that she had been through any of this, it broke her heart. As far as Alex was concerned Calleigh's mother really was as bad as her father, for her to stand back and just let her daughter be abused like that, be used and passed around like some sort of sex toy, it was unbelievable.

Alex continued walking until she reached the ballistics lab, she knew this was Calleigh's haven, where she felt safe, in control, she knew she'd find her here. Alex opened the door and walked in, she couldn't see Calleigh she walked a little further and entered the firing range as the door closed behind her she saw Calleigh sitting on the floor in the corner behind the door, her legs were curled up to her chest and her head hung down as she hugged her legs close. She was shaking. Alex walked over and sat down next to her, she placed a hand on Calleigh's shoulder, she wanted to comfort her, Calleigh flinched away from her touch.

"Calleigh," Alex said softly trying not to scare her, "it's ok, it'll be ok."

Calleigh didn't reply, she was so angry and hurt, she didn't really know why, her mother had hit her, it hadn't hurt but it had shocked her, it hadn't happened before. Her mother hated her, she truly hated her more than Calleigh hated her mother herself.

"Calleigh, listen to me, you're ok, it will be ok."

"No it won't," Calleigh said softly.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"Everything is so messed up, none of this was supposed to happen, my family was never supposed to be here, I was never supposed to see them again at all, I left never to return and now that they're here I've killed my dad and everyone thinks its my fault, mom hates me more than she ever did before because I killed him, it's such a mess!" Calleigh was speaking so quickly Alex was having trouble understanding her.

"Calleigh slow down, none of this is your fault, you had to do what you did, you know that."

"But…" Calleigh started.

"No," Alex interrupted, "listen to me, it doesn't matter what your mom or the rest of your family thinks, you don't need them Cal, you know that, you've lived without them all of these years, you're better than them."

"Thanks Alex," Calleigh said, still not looking up from where she was sat, she enjoyed the warm feeling of Alex's arms surrounding her, it was a motherly touch, she leant into it and Alex hugged her tighter.

"It really will be ok Cal, I care about you, and you mean so much to me."

"Thank you Alex," Calleigh said looking up to meet her gaze, "sometimes I wish my mother had been more like you, you're more of a mother to me than mine ever was."

"Calleigh I'd be so proud to have a daughter like you, and if my daughter turns out to be anything like you I'll be so happy. Don't listen to your mom Cal, it's just the drink talking, you know that."

Calleigh smiled slightly, "it was always the drink talking, I hardly ever remember her sober, my father was the same, only she never hurt me so much. I hate them so much, I wish I'd never gone back home, none of this would ever have happened."

"Calleigh you can't blame yourself, you had no way of knowing this was going to happen."

"Thanks Alex," Calleigh said resting her head against Alex's chest, Alex held her, stroking her hair, she wanted to give Calleigh's mother a piece of her mind.

After about half an hour Alex left the lab followed shortly by Calleigh. After going to the bathroom in order to wash off her now smudged make-up and to try and make herself look half decent. She then walked into the break room, Horatio was stood there, he smiled at her, he had heard about what had happened.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," Calleigh replied softly, "I'm fine. Have you interviewed Jack and the others?"

"Not yet, I was just about to," Horatio replied.

"I want to come."

"No way!" Horatio replied, there was absolutely no way he was going to let her be there as he questioned them.

"Please Horatio, I need to do this!"

"No Calleigh, I won't allow it, you don't need that."

"Let me watch then, I won't say anything, just let me watch!"

"No Calleigh, please don't do this to yourself."

"I need to Horatio, I need an end to this, I want to hear what they have to say for themselves."

"Calleigh…" Horatio started.

"Please Horatio!" Calleigh begged.

"Ok, but not on your own and if it gets too much I want you to promise that you will leave."

"Thank you," Calleigh replied.

"Ok," Horatio said, "come on, if you're sure."

"I am," Calleigh replied, following him out of the break room.

Horatio really wished she wouldn't do this to herself, he knew she needed closure but not like this surely. As far as Horatio was concerned these men were the lowest of the low, he hated them, they were evil, he was going to see to it that they paid for what they had done. He hoped this really would be an end of it for her, he knew she couldn't cope with much more.

* * *

TBC…

Thanks for reading! I know this is short and a little boring but I promise to update again really soon, the next chapter should be a little more exciting! Please review, reviews make me happy!


	35. Chapter 35

Thanks so much for all of your reviews! I know this took a while, but it is much longer! This gets a little heavy toward the end, anyway here you go…

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Horatio watched as Calleigh walked into the side room off the interview room, he really wasn't sure about letting her watch, surely it served no purpose, she was just reopening healing wounds, she shouldn't be reliving it. He also admitted that if he was her then he would want to watch, that was the only reason he had agreed, he did understand her need for closure.

"H!" Eric said walking up to him as he was about to enter the interview room.

"Eric," Horatio replied.

"What are you doing? Have you seen Calleigh?"

"I'm about to interview Jack Halford and Calleigh's in there," Horatio pointed toward the door.

"Are you sure that's a good idea H? I mean surely she shouldn't see that, she doesn't need that," Eric argued.

"She insisted," Horatio explained, "I'm not over-keen on the idea either but it's what she wants."

"Can I come in?" Eric asked, "I want to help you with the interview."

"Eric I'm not sure that's a very good idea, you're too emotionally involved, I'll get Frank."

"Please Horatio, I won't do anything, just let me in on the interview."

"Ok," Horatio said slowly, "don't do anything you'll regret, please, otherwise you're out and I'll get Frank in."

"Thanks H," Eric said, following him into the room.

Calleigh looked at Jack sat there, he looked pleased with himself, he was just as she always remembered, smug and cocky, she was still scared of him, she knew that was stupid he couldn't hurt her any more, it was irrational but she couldn't help feeling it. Calleigh watched as Horatio and Eric entered the room, she really hadn't wanted Eric to be there, it was going to be humiliating enough with just Horatio but at least he had professional detachment, and he wouldn't tell anyone. She didn't think that Eric would tell anyone, it was more the fact that she'd let him in so much, told him secrets she'd kept her life, this would mean him finding out more about what happened, only she couldn't decide what he knew and what he didn't that was all in Halford's hands. She watched as Horatio and Eric sat down opposite Halford.

"Mr Halford, would you like to explain what you were doing in the house that was raided last week, the one in which your friend Kenwall Robinson died," Horatio started.

"I was helping Duke, he said he had a problem and he needed help sorting it, I didn't know what it was until I met him at the house, he already had the girl."

"You mean Laura?"

"Yes."

"What did you do when you found out about her?"

"I told him to let her go," Halford explained.

'Yeah right!' Calleigh thought watching, she knew Halford was just as bad if not worse than her father.

"And what did he say to that?" Horatio asked.

"He refused, he told me to ring his daughter and get her to come round."

"And you did this?"

"Well, yes, what was I supposed to do?"

"Well if you really didn't want to be there you could have called the police," Horatio said.

"No I couldn't, you don't understand!" Halford said.

"What don't I understand?" Horatio asked.

"Duke told me that he still had some videos we made of Calleigh Robinson when she was younger, I'm in them, and he said that if I didn't help him he'd hand them to the police."

"Why would he do that? It would incriminate himself as well and besides we already have copies of the videos Mr Halford."

"You've watched them?" Halford asked.

"Some," Eric replied, he hated thinking about what he had seen those videos, it made him feel sick every time he thought about them. The pictures still spun around his head, the knowledge of what Calleigh had been through made him want to rip the man sitting in front of him to pieces.

"Oh, I didn't want to do that, I didn't… they made me," Halford said.

"I don't think so," Eric butted in just as Horatio was about to speak, "we've seen them Mr Halford, you enjoyed what you did, so just do something decent for once in your life and admit it."

"Ok, I did that back then, but I didn't know about this Laura until I went to that house, I swear."

"You're a paedophile Jack, what's changed? Why should I believe you? How do I know you didn't take Laura and plan all of this? After all we saw what you're capable of on the videos." Horatio asked.

"I changed; I'm not like that anymore." Jack argued.

"When we came into that house, your pants were around your ankles, you expect me to believe you have changed at all! I think you're just the same sick, evil twisted bastard you ever were!" Eric said.

"She wanted me to do it! She was begging for it!" Halford screamed.

Calleigh was pleased by his outburst; it meant he was still in there, the Jack she remembered. He wasn't going to talk his way out of this, he was starting to admit it, it was as if now they had to believe what she had said, this was proof she wasn't making it up. She knew that this was crazy, they'd seen the videos, they'd found her in that bedroom, Eric had met her father, there was no way they could not believe her, it was just that now no one was arguing with her, no one was denying it ever happened.

"No Mr Halford," Horatio started, "she did not want it, neither of them wanted what you did to them."

"I never would have done anything, Duke seemed to guess that I wanted to years ago, he invited me around one day, I didn't know why, but I went anyway, when I got there Calleigh Robinson was there and Duke told me to do what I liked with her."

"That's not excuse!" Eric shouted, "You did it! Only an animal would think to do some of the things you did to her!"

Horatio was beginning to worry about Eric, he seemed to be close to exploding, he hoped he didn't do something stupid.

"But if Duke had never invited me round I would never have done anything, he said he did it all the time, I asked what his wife said, and he just said that she didn't know anything about it. At first it was weird, but we had all day, we took it in turns at first, you should have seen the look on her face, she was loving it!"

"You bastard!" Eric was trying so hard not to hit this man, Halford was pushing and pushing, goading him, he was trying to resist, he didn't want to play into this guys hands even though Halford's words were acid in his ears. He knew Calleigh was watching and really hoped she wouldn't, he hated to think of her watching this on her own, he wanted to be there for her, but he wanted to be here too, so he just stayed where he was.

Calleigh was going crazy, the lies he was coming out with! She couldn't believe it, he had hurt her so much, it was as if it had all been a game to him, like she was his toy.

Jack continued "it got better, he started inviting other people around, we had the whole day to play with her, taking it in turns or all at once, she'd argue at first, but by midday she just took anything. Duke was great, some men don't let you do oral or anal with their little girls but he was up for anything, he'd let us hire her out, we could take her anywhere, do anything, as long as we paid by the hour and returned her on time."

"You're sick!" Horatio said

Calleigh wanted this to stop, as much as she didn't want to watch this she couldn't help herself. This was what she didn't want Eric to hear, she didn't want him to understand how humiliating it had been for her, Halford was making her sound like a prostitute and she hated that, it made her feel dirty, like she had done something wrong, she had felt like that for years until she began to realise that it hadn't been her fault.

"You made videos of it! What kind of sicko thinks to do something like that?" Eric said.

"Well that was the best bit, he sold us the videos and then we could relive it whenever we wanted, we didn't even need to be with her. Technically, that probably worked out better for her anyway."

"How'd you figure?" Horatio asked.

"Well we had to do it once and relive it as many times as we liked, if we had actually done it that many times she would have never slept," Halford replied smiling.

Calleigh hated that logic, whilst they were watching it on videos, she was reliving every minute of it in her head everyday, they hadn't really saved her from anything, just caused her the humiliation of making the videos and distributing them among themselves for them to watch at their leisure. The videos that had now been found and shown to the people she cared about, the people she was Calleigh Duquesne in front of, they had seen the shame and humiliation of Calleigh Robinson, it wasn't what she wanted, she had become these two people on purpose, she hated Calleigh Robinson with a passion, she was Calleigh Duquesne now, strong, independent and proud of it.

"Anyway," Horatio said, wanting to change the subject, he also hated to think of Calleigh watching this, "Laura, you say you didn't plan on doing anything to her, yet what? She was just there so you thought you would anyway?"

"Well, Yeah," Jack replied, "I didn't know she was going to be there, and then when Duke said to call Calleigh I did, it'd been a long time since I saw her but despite her age she's still looking great. Then she turned up, we were going to have some fun, for old times sake, you know what I mean?"

Eric was struggling not to seriously injure this man, he hated him so much, the way he spoke about Calleigh as if she was a possession that could just be passed around between his friends.

"Then what happened?" Horatio asked, he wanted to get this interview over with, he didn't want to give this guy any more time than he deserved.

"She turned up, we knocked her about a bit, it was the only way to stop her fighting back, it never used to be so hard when she was younger, then we dragged her upstairs and tied her to the bed. I didn't know the plan I assumed we'd fuck her like we used to, but then her and her dad started arguing and he said to bring the girl in so Calleigh could watch whilst we did her. Calleigh begged us to hurt her instead of the girl, it was quite sweet really especially seeing as she'd never met the girl before in her life. Next thing I know Duke's dead and you guys are in there dragging us all out. I never meant for any of this to happen, I mean it's not like I planned it."

"Kind of convenient to blame it on a dead man isn't it?" Horatio asked.

"But it's true!" Jack pleaded.

"I don't care, you've confessed, it doesn't matter who planned it, with everything we've got against you, you'll never see the light of day as a free man again." Horatio said, "you will be charged with the recent assault, kidnap and attempted rape, the possession of child pornography and the case against you for sexually abusing Miss Duquesne will be reviewed by the DA as it was so long ago, but believe me you will be punished."

"So this is it then, it's over?" Jack said, somehow under whelmed by it.

"Yes it is," Horatio said, "I hope you get a taste of your own medicine where you're going."

"Whatever!" Jack said, "I've had my fun." He looked at Eric, who really wanted to kill the guy and said, "you're fucking her aren't you? I can tell by the look in your eyes."

Eric was so taken aback by the question he didn't even think to answer.

"I know you are," Jack said, "here's a tip for you," he leaned over and whispered something in Eric's ear.

Eric lost it and jumped over the table before anyone could stop him, it took Horatio and another two patrols to pull him off. Jack sat on the floor with his back against the wall and the two officers dragged him to standing, he was led out and Eric followed after him into the corridor.

Calleigh saw all of this and was angry with Eric for losing control but also with Horatio for pulling him off, she hated Jack, she wanted to see him punished. She walked out of the room and over to where Eric was leaving the interview room. She watched as Jack was led away, he turned and smiled at her, she just stared at him until she couldn't see him.

Eric walked over to her and put his arms around her, so glad that that was finally over, now they just had the funeral to deal with.

* * *

TBC…

Thanks for reading and please please review! I know it may have been a bit confusing and I'm sorry! I'll update as soon as possible!


	36. Chapter 36

Thanks for all of the reviews! I was going to do the funeral chapter next, but decided to do this first, I promise you it will finish soon, it is becoming a bit of an epic! Anyway, here you go…

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Eric led Calleigh away toward the ballistics lab, he would have taken her to the break room but there would have been too many people coming in and out, he knew she needed to be alone for the moment, he wasn't going to give her that, but at least he would be the only one with her. He needed to be with her.

"Calleigh, are you ok?" he asked, he knew technically it was over now, the bastards would be punished for what they had put her through, but that interview had been intense, he knew it had been hard for her to watch, but he also understood why she had to watch, she had closure.

"Yeah," she replied softly, walking over to the chair beside her desk and sitting down, Eric grabbed a chair from the other side of the lab and sat down next to her.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah…it's just, I don't know, he didn't even care about what he had done, he wasn't sorry or anything, it was like he didn't realise what he had really done, I don't know, I'm probably just being stupid."

"No Calleigh," Eric started, "you're definitely not stupid, you're right to be angry and confused and upset."

"The way he spoke about it," Calleigh said softly,"it was as if it had all been a game, at the time, when it was happening it seemed like their mission was to torture me, to do their best to kill me, and there were times when I wish they had." Eric squeezed her hand gently, "but sitting there watching him talk about it, it wasn't really about me at all, they weren't trying to hurt me as much as satisfy their own sick desires, I just happened to be the one who gave them the opportunity."

"Calleigh you didn't give them the opportunity, they just took it, they had no right to do that."

"I know that," Calleigh said, "and I know that now they will be punished. I just want to forget about it all, forget any of it ever happened, but I can't, it just won't go away."

"Give it time Cal, it'll get better."

"Will it?" she asked, "You sure? Because I've been trying to forget it for years and never could, I could pretend it never happened but it was always there, in the back of my head. What if it never goes away?"

"Then just take it one day at a time, it will get better. Maybe you won't forget, but it'll be less painful, maybe you can just accept that it happened and that it's in the past. Calleigh I love you so much, I will never let that horror revisit itself on you ever again, you need to know that."

"Thank you Eric, I do know that and I love you so much, can we just go home?"

"Is that your place or mine?"

"Mine," Calleigh said, "I want to go home."

"Ok, I'll drive," Eric said.

The drive home was pretty quiet, neither of them said anything, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, they were both just contemplating their own thoughts, glad they'd survived so far. Suddenly Eric had a thought.

"What if your mom and brothers are still there?"

"Then I'll deal with them, they've got the guys that did it, it's as if they proved it happened, I wasn't lying."

"No one thought you were lying Cal."

"I know that, it's just my mom wasn't convinced and I don't care if she doesn't believe me anymore, I don't need her, I never have, she's never done anything for me before, why should I care about the fact that she doesn't care now?"

"But Cal, she is your mom."

"She's never acted like one, after the funeral is over I don't care if I never see her again."

"What about your brothers?"

"That's up to them," Calleigh said, "if they want to keep in touch we can, I did what I could for them in the past but that's gone now, I went years without seeing them and can't really say that I missed them that much. As long as I have you I know I'll always be ok."

"You don't need me Calleigh, you can manage on your own, you have done for years. But you don't need to worry about that, I'm not going anywhere, I'm never going to leave you, I love you too much."

"Thanks Eric."

"Please stop thanking me, I haven't done anything."

"You've done everything, I don't know how I would have got through any of this without you, you came home to Louisiana with me and still didn't leave even when you did find out everything about me," Eric tried to interrupt but she wouldn't let him, she continued, "you beat up my dad, and whilst I didn't appreciate it at the time, I understand you did it for me and I'm honoured that you feel so strongly as to do something like that. When we got back and it all came out here, you stuck by me through everything, the videos, Jack and my dad taking me, you were the one who came and found me and you're still here, not many men would do that you know."

"I'd do anything for you Calleigh, anything."

Calleigh smiled, and they continued to sit in a comfortable silence for the rest of the journey. When they arrived back at Calleigh's place they walked in and Calleigh could already hear her mom's voice.

"Mom," she said walking into the living room.

"Calleigh, have you calmed down?" Her mother asked.

Eric thought this was rich coming from the woman who had hit her daughter only a couple of hours earlier at the very least she should apologize.

"Yes I'm calm," Calleigh said, her voice echoing more confidence than she felt, "you ready to talk about this funeral?"

"Well actually me and the boys have done most of it but you can check it over if you want."

"I'm happy to go with whatever you want, when is it?"

"Tomorrow."

"Isn't that a bit soon? I mean is everything arranged and ready?"

"Yes we've done it all, and then we can go home and leave this hell hole," her mother said, "and we've booked our selves on flights back home for tomorrow afternoon, so is it ok if we stay here for one more night?"

"I suppose," Calleigh said, not ecstatic about the idea, but not wanting to argue, "but I don't know where you're going to sleep."

"That's ok," Mike butted in, "mom will take the spare room and me and Dave will sleep in here on the couch."

"Ok then," said Calleigh, "I'm tired, I just want to go to bed, are you coming Eric?"

"Un, sure," he replied following her into the bedroom and closing the door.

"They'll sort themselves out, I just want to sleep," Calleigh explained, "you ok to stay over?" she asked realising she had just assumed that he would.

"Yes, of course," Eric said.

They both got undressed and used the en-suite before curling up together in Calleigh's bed, Eric fell asleep first, Calleigh was worrying about tomorrow, she hoped it'd go ok then it'd be over. She also wanted the results of the IAB investigation so that she could put all of this behind her and move on with her life with Eric.

* * *

TBC…

So there you go, I promise the next chapter will be the funeral and after that there will be one or maybe two more chapters, it is coming to an end! I am beginning to start thinking about my next story, but I'm still deciding what to do. Anyway, if you read this please review! I'd really appreciate your comments! And I'll update really soon!


	37. Chapter 37

Thanks for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 37, I'm not entirely happy with it but here you go…

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Calleigh woke up still lying in Eric's arms, their legs had become tangled and Calleigh loved the feeling of his body against hers she felt comforted by it, she was happy. That was until she remembered what day it was, the funeral was going to be hard work, she knew that much already, she'd have to spend the entire day with her family and they were hard enough in small doses. At least when it was over they'd all leave and then she could try and begin her life with Eric properly. She lay there for what felt like ages but was probably only a few minutes when Eric began to stir, she moved toward her side of the bed, disentangling herself from him, during the night she had moved over to his side and he had been hanging off the edge. As she moved further over Eric followed and moved so he was properly on the bed. 

"Morning," he said quietly leaning over slightly to kiss her temple, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Calleigh started and Eric was beginning to think she was shutting herself away again, putting her walls back up for the day, it was going to be hard and he knew this was her defence mechanism, and now he knew why. Then she continued, "I'll feel better when today's over, they can go home and I can get back to work."

" You really want to go straight back to work, I mean you were only shot a couple of days ago maybe you should take more time to rest, I mean you can't complain to a couple more days off."

"I just want to get back to normal, I mean I've been off for days and we only just took a week off when we went to Louisiana, I miss the place! And well they all found out, well everything," she hesitated looking away from Eric, "and well I don't want them to think that it makes me any weaker or anything, it took me a long time to build my reputation at the lab I don't want to have to do it again, I just want to get back and prove I am capable of it."

"Calleigh everybody knows you're fantastic at what you do, they don't care about what's happened to you before, just take a few more days off, please."

"Eric, I'm fine," he rolled his eyes, she continued, "I really am, I need to prove to myself that I can do it, it's as if I was two people before Calleigh Robinson and Calleigh Duquesne, when I moved here there was hardly any Robinson left in me and I became Calleigh Duquesne but now it's like the two people have joined and I don't know who I am anymore."

"Calleigh you're amazing, a lot has happened in the last few weeks but it hasn't changed you, you're still the same person."

"No, there's just more of me now, more that you didn't know about before. It's still weird having everybody know, that's why I changed my name in the first place, I'd had enough of being Little Miss Robinson for him and his mates, every time I hear the name it reminds me of what I was, so I took my mothers maiden name and became Duquesne when I moved here, it was a fresh start."

Eric kissed her again, "I love you so much, I always will."

"Come on we better get up," Calleigh said, "it's going to be a long day." She stood up and threw the pillow at him before walking into the bathroom, by the sounds of it the rest of her family were already awake and getting up.

Twenty minutes later her and Eric were both ready, Calleigh opened the bedroom door and she and Eric walked out and into her living room her mom and brothers were sat watching the TV in silence.

"You took your time," her mom said turning around to look at the two of them, she had a bottle of vodka in her hand already and Calleigh knew this really was going to be a bad day.

"We only just woke up," Calleigh said trying to figure out why she felt that she had to explain herself to her mom in her own home.

"Yeah right," her mom said under her breath.

"What was that?" Calleigh asked, feeling that she actually didn't want to know.

"I said yeah right, you were probably at it with him," she pointed at Eric.

Calleigh felt the anger boil up inside herself, but she didn't respond, she felt Eric move closer behind her and place a hand on her lower back, how dare this woman think she could walk in here and talk to her like that? Calleigh had a good mind to yell at her mom the fact that she didn't have sex because of what her father had subjected her to, but she decided that this would only start an argument and she didn't want to draw attention to the fact, it wasn't something she was exactly proud of.

"Mom, maybe we should just go, the funeral starts in an hour."

"Oh ok, ok whatever come on, we'll all fit in your car won't we?"

"Um, yeah," Calleigh said throwing her keys to Mike, go and get in, I'll be there in a minute." She watched as her mom walked out of the door followed by Mike and Dave. Eric turned to her wondering what she was waiting for.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, just need a minute."

"You don't have to do this you know?"

"Do what?" she asked.

"Go to the funeral, it's not like you owe him anything."

"No, but he is my dad and I did kill him, this is it, after this he really will never be able to hurt me again, I just want to say goodbye, does that sound crazy?"

"Not at all," Eric said kissing the top of her head, "come on," he took hold of her hand and led her out of the building and toward her car. Eric climbed in the drivers' side and Calleigh jumped in the passengers side with the rest of her family squeezed into the back. The ride to the funeral was silent, there were things Eric wanted to say to Calleigh, but not in front of her family, he hated them, they had been the ones that had let Calleigh go through hell and not done anything to stop it.

When they arrived at the church Eric pulled up in the car park and they all climbed out and walked into the church, Eric hated going to funerals, and this was his second one in as many weeks and another of Calleigh's relatives. The church was empty except for a couple of people who Calleigh didn't recognise, not that she really cared who they were anyway. The funeral started after her fathers body had been carried in. The priest said a few words about saying goodbye and about being able to forgive; Calleigh thought that if this man knew what the man lying in the box in front of him had done maybe he wouldn't be so forgiving. She knew she could never forgive her father for what he had done and was ok with that; she didn't need to forgive him to move on, she was happy to hate him.

Calleigh was surprised when her mom stood up and announced she was to give a speech, she walked to the stand and unfolded a piece of paper and began to read.

"My husband was a good man," Calleigh had had enough already, but continued to remain seated and was comforted when Eric took hold of her hand and squeezed it gently. Her mother continued, "he was kind and loving, he loved his family more than anything, it meant the world to him. He was not without fault, but then who isn't? he always tried his best, he supported the family and worked hard to do this. I'm going to miss him so much, he meant the world to me," she started wiping tears away furiously, as if trying to make it obvious she was crying. Eric's jaw clenched how could this woman stand there and spout these lies in front of Calleigh, she was evil. "He was taken in a most brutal way. He was murdered, shot, in cold blood whilst going about his daily business, I hope the person who did this rots in hell for it." She stared at Calleigh, who just stared back, she wanted to interrupt, she desperately wanted to stand up and argue, but didn't, there was no way she was ever going to change her mothers mind especially when she was drunk, she had always thought he was an angel when she was drunk. Although one thing she had said had been true, he had been going about his daily business but that didn't mean it was legal just because he had hurt her on a daily basis for years she knew that didn't make it right. Calleigh was beginning to wish she hadn't come so just ignored the rest of her speech, she focused on the warm feeling of Eric's hand in hers, how soft and smooth it was, how a gesture so small could make her feel so safe. She just wanted to leave, but she bit her tongue and waited it out.

After what seemed like a life time they eventually left the church and walked slowly to the graveyard. Calleigh and Eric walked at the back and Eric kept his grip firmly on her hand, he leant over and whispered in her ear.

"We can leave if you want."

"No," Calleigh said, "it's nearly over now." They continued to walk and the priest said a few more words before the coffin was lowered into the ground, they all watched, Calleigh's mother was hysterical, she wouldn't stop crying, she was leaning on Mike for support who just looked at Calleigh apologetically.

Calleigh felt betrayed by her brothers, she knew it was stupid, but she knew she had done a lot for them in the past, she had practically brought them up and yet here they were now, still with their mom, stood with her on that side of the grave instead of with Calleigh on this side. She had thought they'd understand her, she didn't think they knew everything their father had done to her but they had seen the beatings, they had seen their mother step over her when she was unconscious instead of stopping and calling an ambulance like any normal parent would. She thought she at least deserved their belief, she told herself it didn't matter anymore, after today she would probably never see them again and she was happy with that.

After standing at the grave for a few minutes they began to walk away slowly, Calleigh's mother had slowly managed to end up standing next to Calleigh and was practically leaning on her so that she didn't fall over.

"This is all your fault!" She yelled at Calleigh.

"Please mom, not now!" Calleigh begged quietly trying to drag her mother back to the car, she could smell the alcohol on her breath and it made Calleigh wretch, the smell of alcohol often did, it reminded her of times she'd rather forget.

"No! I want an explanation you shot him! You didn't even think about it! Did you really hate him that much?"

"Yes! Yes I did mom, you have no idea what it was like for me! I hated him so much! Can we just go home please, I don't want to have this argument with you again."

"No! You always walk away! You never face up to anything! You ran away to university all those years ago and then turn up over 15 years later and cause all of this! You never have to face the consequences to what you have done! You always get away with it!"

"That's not true!" Calleigh yelled back, "He was always punishing me, that was his excuse, most kids are grounded or have their pocket money docked, they don't get beaten until they are unconscious and then raped for good measure! I could lose my job because I killed him, I had to do it! I had no choice, that little girl couldn't end up like me, I wasn't going to let that happen!"

"He only did what he thought was best for you!"

"No mom! Nobody would ever think that was best! You have no idea what that felt like! Just leave! I don't care if I never see you again! Just pack your bags and go! You're not welcome in my house any more!"

Calleigh walked off, Eric followed, he had wanted to interrupt the argument but he understood that Calleigh needed to let her mom know what she thought of her. Part of him wanted her mom to see those videos, to see what had been done to her daughter, if she saw them she couldn't deny it and Eric truly believed that anybody who saw them would be truly repulsed by them, they were sick. Her mom would have to feel something, feel guilty for letting her husband rape and sell her daughter she had to, Eric knew this would never happen but he hated this woman with a passion he had never felt before. Eric caught up with Calleigh and took hold of her hand leading her back to her car, he got in and they just sat there for ages, before Eric started the engine and began to drive back to Calleigh's. At least it was over now, as far as he was concerned her mother and brothers could make their own way there to pick up their stuff and then they would leave and that'd be the end. Calleigh spent the entire ride with her head turned away from him, staring out of the window, Eric knew she was crying, but he also knew that she needed to, he didn't say anything and just continued the drive home.

* * *

TBC… 

I know the end of this chapter seems a little random, but I can't write any more at the moment, and it is quite long!

Thanks for reading! Please please review this if you read it, I really appreciate it!

I'll update soon!


	38. Chapter 38

Thanks for all of your reviews! Thanks to shopping-luva91 for help with some of the ideas used in this chapter (sorry I changed it a little)! Here you go…

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Calleigh unlocked her apartment before walking in slowly, Eric followed, he just wanted to forget the funeral, forget everything that had happened since Joe had been found. It had only been about 3 weeks ago, but it seemed like a lifetime, the things that had happened since then still amazed him, the things he had found out had sickened him, although he was glad he had found out. He was glad both for himself and Calleigh, he felt he understood her a lot better now, he knew why she was the way she was, why she was tough and independent and why she never let anyone in. He was also glad that Calleigh had let it out, had had the chance to tell her father and the rest of her family what she thought of them, he was glad she had opened up to him they shared a connection now, he had been the first person she had ever spoken to about what had happened to her and he was pleased she had chosen him.

Calleigh walked further into her apartment, placing her keys on the side before walking into her living room and sitting down, Eric followed her.

"Do you want a drink?" Eric asked, trying to get her to speak, she hadn't said anything since her outburst at the funeral and Eric desperately wanted to know what was going on in her head.

Calleigh shook her head.

Eric walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, he didn't know what to say, he had no idea what she was thinking, he was about to start speaking when there was a knock at the door. Eric was glad of the interruption, he was desperately trying not to do the wrong thing where Calleigh was concerned, and he didn't want to do something stupid and regret it later he loved her too much for that. When Calleigh didn't make a move to get up to answer the door he stood and walked over to the door himself and opened it slowly, peering around it to see who it was. He couldn't believe it. They could have least have left it couple of hours before turning up here, he hoped they were just after their stuff; he was willing to help them pack it as long as they didn't upset Calleigh again.

"We just want our stuff and we'll be out," Calleigh's mom said, her words slurring slightly from drink.

"Oh, ok," Eric stuttered, "um, well be quick, you know where it is." Eric opened the door a little more to let them in. Calleigh's mother pushed past him and walked straight into the spare bedroom, her brothers walked into the living room where they had left their stuff in neat piles behind the door.

Mike walked over to Calleigh and sat down next to her, her placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to pull her into a hug, Calleigh shrugged him off, drawing her legs up to her chest and hugging her knees.

"Calleigh, are you ok?" Mike asked.

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"We're going," he said standing up.

"Ok," Calleigh replied. Mike began walking away. "Wait!"

Mike turned to look at her, she walked up to him and flung her arms around him hugging him tightly, he hugged her back, "I love you Cal, I'm going to miss you."

"You too," she said, "take care of yourself."

"I will."

Dave also walked up to her and hugged her. They both then walked toward the door, and their mother appeared from the bedroom.

"We going?" She asked.

"Yeah," Mike replied.

"And you," Calleigh's mother said, pointing at her, "I hate you for what you did you ruined my life, you're the biggest mistake I've ever made."

Calleigh didn't reply she just watched as her mother walked out of the door, Mike stopped and shook hands with Eric.

"Take care of her for me," Mike said, "she needs looking after, despite what she thinks."

"I will," Eric replied, "Bye," he shut the door behind them and walked back over to Calleigh before sitting back down on the couch next to her.

Calleigh didn't speak, she didn't say anything, Eric could tell she was deep in thought, he wanted her to speak to him, let him in again, he wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be ok now, it was over.

"What you thinking about?" he asked quietly, not knowing whether or not to expect an answer.

"Nothing," she replied softly, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What did he say to you?"

"Who?" Eric asked not sure who she was talking about.

"Jack," she replied, "in the interview room before you hit him, he said something to you, what was it?"

"Calleigh…" Eric tried, he didn't want tell her, he didn't want to hurt her feelings, it was over now, she could forget it.

"Eric please tell me, I want to know what he said to you to make you react like that. You managed the entire interview in the room with him and then he whispers something and you go mental. What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter Calleigh, please don't do this."

"Please just tell me Eric, I need to know."

"He said, 'no matter how many times you fuck her, I've made my mark on her and she'll never be free no matter how good you are to her' I'm sorry Calleigh," Eric finished, regretting telling her as soon as he had finished.

Calleigh just shook her head before pulling her knees up to her chest again, she started shaking, it was as if she were crying but no tears were falling. Eric reached over and took hold of her hugging her tightly, she just collapsed into his arms, shaking uncontrollably he picked her up slowly and carried her into her bedroom laying her down softly on the bed, he lay down next to her and hugged her body to him, she was still trembling and tears were streaming down her face.

"It's ok Cal, it's over, it's going to be ok, I'm here." Eric whispered hugging her tightly; he just wanted to make it all ok for her, make it better.

He kept whispering to her softly for over an hour and eventually she stopped shaking and just lay in his arms.

"Are you ok?" Eric asked.

Calleigh nodded, "he's right."

"Who?" Eric asked.

"Jack, what he said, he's right."

"Calleigh…" Eric tried to interrupt.

"He's left his mark on me, they all did, I'll never forget what they did, I can't, it's going to haunt me forever, and then there's these," Calleigh lifted up her top slowly and the scars were still there standing out on her pale skin, "see, he's still here, they all are, they're never going anywhere."

Eric slowly placed his fingertips on her stomach, looking at her face, expecting her to stop him, she didn't. He traced his fingers along each of her scars gently, slowly.

"I love everything about you Calleigh," Eric said softly, leaning down to kiss her lips lightly, "I love your eyes, your smile, your hair, your laugh, everything, especially your scars. They make you who you are Cal, and they show what you went through to become this person that I love, they show your strength, your bravery they make you the compassionate, understanding, loving person that you are and I love you so much it hurts."

"I love you too Eric, I need you like I need air, I can't breathe without you," Calleigh said, her tone loving but desperate as if pleading him to never leave. Eric kissed her softly then he continued tracing her scars with his fingertips.

* * *

TBC…

Thanks for reading! I know this seems like the end, but I have a couple more chapters left yet, I don't want it to end, not yet anyway! It's taken over my life like a drug, I can't survive without it, yet writing more will kill me!

Please review this if you read it! I'd really appreciate it!

I'll update soon!


	39. Chapter 39

Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them so much! I know this has been a few days and I'm sorry! I really am. Here you go…

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They both lay there on her bed for what seemed like a life time, Eric continued tracing his fingers delicately along her scars, moving her top slightly further up so more scars were visible. Calleigh enjoyed his touch he made her feel like her scars were beautiful, something she should be proud of, she'd been covering them up so long, she never thought it'd be possible, she had always seen them as ugly, a reminder of the past she should be ashamed of.

Eric enjoyed just looking at her as she lay there, she was so beautiful, she looked so peaceful lying there, he looked at her scars, it still hurt him that they existed, that Calleigh had suffered so much at the hands of somebody who was supposed to protect her, somebody she should have been able to trust. He kissed her lightly on the lips before pulling away slowly and looking into her eyes, he could get lost in them. He moved and kissed her again, this time more deeply, their tongues fought for control and she placed a hand on the back of his head, pulling him deeper. He moved his hand further up her body, her skin was so soft.

Calleigh pulled away.

"Eric stop, I'm sorry, it's just, I um…" Calleigh said quietly.

"Cal, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to.." Eric was interrupted as Calleigh spoke.

"No, it's my fault, I kissed you, I do want to it's just..."

"Calleigh, I'm sorry, we don't need to do this."

"No, Eric you deserve an explanation, you have every right to expect me to…."

"No Calleigh, I don't have any right to expect anything, and I already have an explanation. Calleigh you were put through hell, I don't want to remind you of anything like that."

"Eric, I know you're nothing like him, like any of them, I know you would never hurt me."

"I wouldn't Calleigh, never, I love you too much."

"I know, it's just what if it reminds me of them, I know you wouldn't do anything like that, I know you wouldn't hurt me, but what if I remember, I wouldn't want to think of us like that, I wouldn't want to think of them at all."

"Calleigh it's ok, I understand, I love you, I'll wait as long as it takes for you to be ready, Calleigh I don't care if your never ready, I'm just happy to be with you."

"Thanks Eric, I'm so lucky to have you. I still can't believe you actually want me, you saw those videos, you saw what I did, you should be disgusted by me."

"Calleigh no, never, I saw those videos and I was disgusted, but only by what they did to you, that was not your fault, you know that, you couldn't have stopped them. Calleigh you're beautiful, I love you, what was done to you doesn't come into it except that it made you who you are."

"I want to show you something," Calleigh said turning around and opening the drawer next to her bed, she reached around the side of the drawer and pulled out what looked like a photograph, Calleigh passed the photo to Eric who took it off her. He looked down at it.

The photo was worn, it had obviously been looked at hundreds of times, the edges were frayed and the shine had come off. The picture showed Calleigh sitting in a hospital bed, in her arms was a beautiful baby girl.

"Emma," he said quietly.

"Yes," Calleigh whispered, "one of the nurses in the hospital took it for me when they realised she wasn't going to make it, I think she felt sorry for me because I'd had no visitors the entire time I'd been in hospital. She gave it to me, to remember her by."

"She's beautiful," Eric said, the baby was so tiny and yet looked so much like Calleigh, she had her eyes and even the makings of her smile.

"She really was," Calleigh blinked trying desperately not to cry, "I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if she'd made it, my life would have been so much different."

"Do you think you would have ended up at CSI?"

"I don't know," Calleigh answered truthfully, "maybe not, I don't think I could have afforded to stay at university, I would have had to get a job."

"You'd be a fantastic mother Calleigh," Eric said stroking her hair behind her ear.

"Thanks Eric, it's an amazing feeling, I fell in love with her the moment I saw her, it's so scary feeling so strongly for something so small, I've never felt anything like it in my life, it's amazing. I dream about her sometimes, taking her to the park, pushing her on the swings, taking her to her first day at school, she would have been 16 now, we'd be arguing over boys and her clothes and what time she had to be home." Calleigh smiled, "I would have looked after her, she was my baby, I wouldn't have let anybody hurt her, not ever."

"I know," Eric said gently brushing her face with his hand. "She would have had a good childhood. I'm so sorry Calleigh, you should never have had to go through that on your own."

"It's not your fault," Calleigh smiled again, "I didn't even know you then, anyway it was a long time ago."

"I know that Calleigh, but I'm still sorry."

"Thanks Eric," Calleigh leaned over and kissed him lightly. She hugged him tightly, yawning.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"Lets go to bed.

"We're already on the bed," Calleigh smiled.

"You know what I mean," he laughed tapping her on the arm lightly.

They both climbed off the bed and began getting changed, Eric felt like her had moved into her apartment the amount of time he had spent there lately, he didn't mind though, in fact he loved it. They both curled up in bed Calleigh leaned on his chest and he pulled her closer, taking in the scent of her hair, it was comforting and could only be described as simply Calleigh and he loved it.

* * *

TBC…

I know this feels like the end again, but I just can't let go! I promise the next chapter will be the last one, I think 40 chapters is a nice round number and I have one last idea and then it will end . I think there will be a sequel, but I'm still working on an idea for it, but I'm not going to write it straight away, I need a break from this!

In the meantime I will probably write a fic kind of similar to my last story Past Secrets but different, do you think that'd be a bit repetitive? Or I might write a couple of oneshots, but I find them difficult, I always want to write more!

So thank you for reading so far! And if you did please review! I'd really appreciate it!

I'll update soon!


	40. Chapter 40

Thanks for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 40 the last chapter here you go…

* * *

A month had passed and Eric and Calleigh had begun moving on with their lives, Calleigh had gone back to work as soon as the doctor had said she could, refusing to take the extra time that Horatio had offered. Deep down she knew she had nothing to prove to anyone, and that nobody thought any less of her even though they knew what she had been through, Calleigh had wanted to get back to prove to herself that she could still do her job.

She and Eric had just finished a particularly difficult day, it had been worth the hard work though, they had caught a serial killer who had killed 5 girls in 3 weeks, never before had Calleigh seen a killer escalate so quickly, usually they planned every murder in detail spending weeks on each one before finally carrying it out. This guy hadn't planned so well and seemed to just enjoy taking lives no matter what the consequences were for himself, it had been this lack of planning that had eventually meant the team had been able to tie him to each of the murders and he was now spending his first night of many in prison. Calleigh was so pleased they had caught him, not only because now he was not going to kill any more girls but also because it meant she'd finally be able to go home at a reasonable hour and not spend the entire time thinking about the case, trying to piece bits together make sense of things. Now they had time to be themselves and just enjoy each others company.

Calleigh opened the door to her apartment, she had to get ready, Eric said he was taking her out for a meal to celebrate solving the case, he was picking her up at seven, which gave her less than two hours. She put her keys on the side making her way into the bedroom, and undressed before jumping in the shower, she was really looking forward to dinner. She actually always looked forward to time she could spend with Eric, but they rarely got the chance to be alone together especially whilst this case had taken over their lives, tonight was a night for them.

Eric arrived at his apartment, looking forward to his night with Calleigh and he was going to make sure it really was a very special night, he had a surprise for her, he just hoped she liked it. One hour later he left his apartment and got in his car and began to drive to Calleigh's. He was beginning to get nervous, he'd had it planned for weeks but that didn't make him any less nervous about it.

Calleigh was ready, she had been for the last half an hour, and in that time she had got changed 3 times sure that each time she had got it wrong and she was now sitting in the black dress she had picked out in the first place. It had been the same with her hair, first it was down and then up and then back down again, now it was down and slightly curled softening her features. She had checked her make up every 2 minutes as well, making sure it wasn't too much and that it hadn't smudged, she couldn't believe how nervous she was about going out to dinner with Eric, it wasn't like they hadn't been out before but she just wanted it to be perfect.

There was a knock at the door, Calleigh looked at the clock, he was early, she checked herself in the mirror again, it wasn't too much, was it? She brushed off her doubts and walked to the door opening it slowly. Eric stood there in a black tuxedo, holding flowers, tulips, her favourite, Calleigh smiled, he handed her the flowers.

"Thank you, you look gorgeous!" she said looking at him, and he really did.

"Not as gorgeous as you, you're beautiful!" He looked at her smiling, he was still taking her in, she looked amazing, her dress hugged her figure perfectly and her hair was down just how he loved it. She went up on her toes and kissed him passionately on the lips, he returned the kiss, she smelt so sweet, he loved it.

"Are we going then?" Calleigh asked breaking the kiss.

"Yes, I booked the table for half seven," Eric said taking her hand.

"I'll just put these in some water," she said, indicating the flowers.

"Ok," Eric said, watching her turn and walk away from him.

Two minutes later she returned, she and Eric made her way out, she locked her door and turned and walked towards Eric's car, he held her hand and then opened the door for her, allowing her to sit in the car before shutting it for her and walking around to the other side of the car. He climbed in and they drove in a comfortable silence to the restaurant Eric had chosen.

"Eric," Calleigh said when they arrived, she looked at the restaurant, she had never been here before but had heard the food was exquisite and it was expensive, there was no way they could afford it.

"Sshh," Eric said getting out of the car and going to her side to open the door for her to get out.

"But…" Calleigh started.

"Calleigh," Eric interrupted.

"But, we couldn't possibly afford…"

"Calleigh, it's ok, besides you look too beautiful to take anywhere else. I want tonight to be special, I love you, you deserve the best, now would you like to join me?" He asked holding out his hand, she took it, stepping out of the car and walking with him into the restaurant.

When they were seated at a table next to the window over looking the ocean, they both looked at the menus and placed their order with the waitress.

"So, what's the special occasion?" Calleigh asked him, she had wanted tonight to be special but for him to book a table at the most expensive restaurant in Miami he had to be up to something.

"Why does it have to be an occasion to take the most beautiful woman in Miami to the nicest restaurant in Miami?"

Calleigh felt herself blush.

"I love you Calleigh, I just want to show you how much, is that ok?"

"Yes, but…"

"No buts Calleigh, I think we should talk about something other than why we're here."

"OK, I'm glad we caught that guy today, who knows what else he would have done if we didn't catch him."

"No work talk either," Eric said, "we've been talking about nothing other than the case for weeks."

"Ok," Calleigh replied, wondering what else she was supposed to talk about, she had been working so much recently it was as if she had forgotten how to talk about anything else.

The waitress interrupted to bring them their meals, they both ate quietly, Eric was becoming increasingly nervous, he knew he only had until the end of dinner but kept daring himself and then backing out. Eventually before desert he decided if he didn't do it now he never would. He knew she was speaking and felt guilty for ignoring her but he looked at her and when she finished he bit the bullet as it were and started speaking.

"Calleigh."

"Yes," she replied.

"You know I love you, don't you?"

"Of course I do, are you ok?"

"Um, yes I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, there's something I want to ask you."

Calleigh didn't say anything; she just waited for him to speak. Eric stood up before bending down on one knee; he held open a box, inside lay a beautiful diamond ring. Calleigh felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Calleigh, I love you so much, will you marry me?"

Calleigh didn't even think about it, "Yes! Of course I'll marry you, I love you!" she bent down and kissed him deeply on the lips, he took the ring out of the box and placed it onto her finger, it wasn't huge, but it was elegant and Eric thought it suited Calleigh perfectly. She kissed him again before becoming aware that the entire restaurant was looking at them, she pulled back and Eric sat back down, the waitress brought them some champagne along with their desert.

Calleigh was so happy, she never had been this happy in her entire life, she loved Eric more than she ever thought she could love anyone, she couldn't live without him and now she knew she would never have to.

Eventually they left the restaurant and Eric drove back to Calleigh's apartment, again getting out and opening the door for her.

"You'll come in?" Calleigh asked although it wasn't really a question more of a statement.

"Of course," Eric said following her into her apartment. She placed her keys down on the table and walking into her living room, she looked again at the ring on her finger, it was beautiful. Eric walked over to her kissing her deeply she returned the kiss forcing her tongue into his mouth, there was something she wanted to tell him. She reached up and whispered in his ear.

"I'm ready."

"Calleigh," Eric started, he wanted to make sure she was ready.

"I am, Eric, I want you."

"I don't want you to think I've pressured you into this by proposing."

"Eric, I love you, I know you'd never hurt me I promise you I'm ready," she then kissed him again, silencing his further protests. He kissed her back, hugging her body to him; he loved the way she felt against him.

She moved her hands up his chest, starting to undo the buttons on his shirt, when the shirt was open she began kissing down his chest, she loved him, all of him. He picked her up, and carried her into the bedroom laying her gently on the bed; he climbed on the bed next to her and kissed her again, running his hands down her arms, she shivered slightly at his touch. She reached up and pushed his shirt off his shoulders, removing it completely and throwing it on the floor.

Eric reached his hand around to the back of her dress unzipping it and sliding it slowly off her shoulders, he looked into her eyes looking for her to confirm it was ok, when he stopped, she smiled at him and removed the dress herself, she lay back down on the bed. She pulled Eric in for another kiss and he responded before slowly kissing all the way down her body starting at her neck, he moved down towards her stomach, running his hands over the scars that spanned her skin, kissing each one of them delicately.

He moved back up and captured her mouth with his and moved his hands around her back and undid her bra, removing it and throwing it on the floor with the rest of her clothes. He kissed her breast, taking the nipple into his mouth and sucking on it before turning his attention to the other one, he noticed the bite marks on her skin, a reminder of what she had been through but he didn't comment, instead he continued kissing her entire body.

Calleigh felt like she was going to explode, she wanted Eric more than she had ever wanted anything in the entire life, it was like without him she couldn't breathe. She reached down and began undoing his trousers slipping them down as far as she could until eventually he removed them himself, Eric looked down at her body beneath him, she was so beautiful, and she was going to marry him, he couldn't believe how lucky he was.

Calleigh moaned slightly as he stopped touching her and was just staring at her, Eric realised this and began stroking her face, slowly he leant down and kissed her again, he slid his hands down her body and in to her panties, breaking the kiss to make sure she was ok, she smiled again and helped him remove the panties. Eric sat back again looking at her, she really was perfect, he couldn't believe how much he loved her. He kissed her again before moving his hands lightly down her body, stroking her breast before moving them further down, Calleigh moaned slightly at the light touch, she wanted him to touch her, she wanted to be part of him. His hand moved further down and settled between her legs, he began rubbing her slowly, Calleigh felt so good, she had never felt anything like it in her life, he moved faster.

"Oh god Eric!"

Eric smiled, he kissed her again and Calleigh moaned into his mouth, she parted her legs further giving him more access. He continued stroking her, he pushed a finger in testing her readiness and Calleigh moaned again, she was so wet. His finger pumped in and out of her whilst his thumb played on her clit, faster. He kept kissing her, moving his kisses down her neck, he desperately wanted to taste her he moved further and further down kissing her breasts and her stomach before finally adding his tongue between her legs, nibbling at her, his finger kept pulsing in and out of her whilst his tongue played on her clit.

"Eric! Oh!" Calleigh moaned, she had never felt anything like this, she felt like she was about to explode, like her entire body was building up to a huge release and she needed that, "faster," she begged shamelessly, she needed to come. After a few more seconds it hit her, she came moaning Eric's name, she let the waves of pleasure wash over her body. Eric removed his finger from it, allowing himself the guilty pleasure of licking it clean before placing kisses all over her body up to her mouth.

"Wow," Calleigh said, "Eric, that was…" she couldn't find the words, "that was amazing!"

Eric kissed her again, "I love you."

Calleigh reached down removing his boxers, pushing them down his legs with her feet, Eric removed the rest of them and threw them on the floor. Calleigh reached down and grabbed hold of him and began moving her hand up and down him slowly, it was Eric's turn to moan, she moved a little faster.

"Calleigh!" Eric moaned. She flicked her thumb over the tip.

"I want you," Calleigh whispered in his ear, "I need you."

Eric moved upward placing himself at her entrance, he looked at Calleigh searching her eyes for consent.

"Please!" she begged him. He moved into her slowly careful not to hurt her, she moaned loudly as his large size entered her. He held himself still until she had adjusted to him and then he began moving slowly.

"Calleigh, you're so beautiful, I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you," Calleigh moaned out of breath.

He began moving faster into her, he leant down and kissed her, Calleigh moaned into the kiss before placing her legs around him, pulling him deeper.

"Oh god! Eric! Faster!" Calleigh begged again, Eric smiled at her and doubled his pace, he moved harder and deeper within her, he loved her so much it hurt, he wanted to show her how he felt. Eric placed his hand between them and began rubbing her clit again, Calleigh moaned loudly letting herself go, she clamped around Eric and he came deep inside her, he kept moving into her, trying to intensify her orgasm, Calleigh moaned.

Eric collapsed on top of her, he removed himself from her, and lay down next to her. He kissed her again.

"Eric, thank you," Calleigh said looking up at him.

"What for?"

"Everything, waiting for me, proposing to me, wanting me and that, that was amazing."

"You are amazing Calleigh, I love you so much, I'm so happy we're getting married!" Eric said slightly giddy at the fact she had agreed.

"I have never felt anything like this in my life," Calleigh smiled, resting her head on his chest, "I love you."

He hugged her to him, he still couldn't believe how much he loved the woman in his arms, he never thought he could feel like this about someone, it had just snuck up on him and it was like he was out of control, his feelings had taken over and he just wanted to protect her forever, be with her forever and make sure nobody ever hurt her again and that was just what he intended to do.

The End

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Thanks for reading! It's finished, please review I'd like to know what you think! Maybe you could tell me which chapter was your favourite chapter! I am planning a sequel which I may start writing soon! Thanks again! 


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